Section B - Case studies and key terms

Section B Revision

Unit G322 – Useful Links – AS Media Studies (Section A and B)

Going into the Exam with contemporary case study material

Section B: Film Industry

Film Industry – 

Key Terms and an Overview of Key areas to address 

is your low budget film an example of a Platform release, whereby the film is only available to view in a few cities, OR is it a Circuit release that uses the Multiplex’s available across the Globe (Globalisation) – This is also an example of a blanket release. This is a useful term if you get a question about the targeting of regional/national/international audiences (6) OR a question about the importance of DM.

Does your case study conform to the recognition of Film Institutions to create a sense ofViral Marketing so the exposure of the film meets the needs of a Prosumer driven film consumer? Do they use UCC (User Created Content) to target their audiences?

The image below gives you a clearer view of some key terms YOU SHOULD know and apply if you get a Media Ownership related Question:

What is the examiner looking for?

Section A – What the Examiner is looking for?

Exam Board Feedback (Summer 2013)

The document below outlines the Examiners advice and guidance on where future candidates preparing for this exam can improve – Pages worth looking at in particular are:

Section A – TV Drama Textual Analysis (50 Marks)

• Page 5 – Advice on Note Taking for the Viewing (2 – 4) of the TV Drama Extract in the Exam.
• Page 8 – The 3 Marking Categories in order to achieve the Full 50 Marks broken down.
• Page 11 – A “Top Level” (A – B Grade) response – YOU SHOULD pick out key things such as use of examples, media language and where they’ve outlined the area of representation.
• Page 12 – An example of where a “Good Range of Points” have been made by a candidate.

Areas of Representation YOU MUST be prepared for:

Section B – Film Industry (50 Marks)

• Page 15 – A good way of ensuring you meet criteria using the recommended structure to write about your Case Study examples.

Revision Task:

– What is the area(s) most heavily rewarded and why?

– Look at the Example Mark Scheme (Below) – what are the examiners expecting you to refer to/include?

Key – EAA (20 Marks) – E (20 Marks) – T (10 Marks)

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/81037-specification.pdf

Reviewing June 2014 Downton Abbey Paper - Question One

GCE Media Studies (H140) Unit G322 Reviewing the external assessment from June 2014

Question 1 
The extract was taken from Downtown Abbey and it was the opening sequence of the first episode. It showed daily life at Downtown Abbey and the day breaking at breakfast with the news that the steamship Titanic had sunk. The extract mediates the reactions of the working class and upper class characters to this press story. Candidates were asked to focus on how social class and status was constructed between and within social groups.

Question 1 

On the slide you can see the method which a candidate has used to record notes during the exam. Note taking on the unseen TV drama extract becomes a key skill to practice.

The unseen examination will require each candidate to view the extract four times. They are permitted two minutes to read Question 1.

This is also a good opportunity for candidates to prepare themselves for note taking. In order to maximise the note taking in the exam, candidates should be dividing a page of paper into four headings, as illustrated by the example on the slide.

If bullet point notes are made under each heading, then candidates can ensure that they address each technical feature under each heading.

Exam instructions 

On the exam paper you will read a series of instructions. Follow the instructions carefully.

The first screening asks the candidate to watch the extract. The second follows immediately and after this screening they can start to make notes. Each candidate is advised to use their time wisely and add notes – not full sentences.

You may want to focus on say camera and mise-en-scene for the first couple of screenings and then editing and sound subsequently. Do use all the time available for note taking and link points together. This advice includes any time remaining after all extracts have been screened.

Marking criteria 

There are four levels which are available on the mark scheme, minimal, basic, proficient and excellent.
Marks are awarded across three categories:
• Explanation, analysis and argument (20 marks)
• Use of examples (20 Marks)
• Use of terminology (10 Marks)

Question 1 - top level response (Criteria)

When candidates work is sustained analysis and media argument - it meets the top level criteria. In order to meet this criteria a response is continually referring back to social class and status. The more focused and detailed discussion of this concept the more reward candidates have enjoyed with their responses. Candidates need to use a full range of examples across all four technical areas – frequently sound and editing is omitted.

Question 1 - top level response 

Here the candidate explored a range of representations and applied technical examples in detail. A
top mark criteria was reached overall for this response. When candidates considered how there was a hierarchy of representations presented, then more credit was awarded. This is demonstrated in this extract where class and status is examined in an integrated approach to textual analysis. In this extract from a candidate’s script, there is a detailed analysis of representation linked to the micro technical analysis of sound, meeting the top level criteria. This detailed and sustained response considers carefully how the representation of social class and status is constructed.
It is key to this exam that candidates reference the technical features that are used. This demonstrates an understanding to the examiner of how meaning is constructed with the support of relevant examples. The analysis here is focused and discriminating and demonstrates how to use mise-en-scene for a top level response. The response also demonstrates excellent use of terminology.

Question 1 - Level 4 response 

In this example we can understand how a candidate meets the top level criteria for explanation and argument. It is important to note that the candidate has used the technical aspect of mise-en-scene with sound in analysis. This approach is common amongst the candidates that achieve highly for the unit. The analysis of colour is significant because the candidate does not make too many assumptions about the use of colour, but instead grounds analysis in understanding hierarchy, and the centrality of different classes of people according to the connotations associated with the framed composition of colour and lighting.

Question 1 - Level 2 response 

Here is an example of a lesser developed analysis. The extract from this response lacks the detail in analysis and is too general and assertive in how meaning is constructed. The candidate offers a basic analysis of the drama which borders on being narrative of the text rather than explanation and analysis. The analysis is basic – more or less descriptive of the drama. This is especially evident through the analysis of mise-en-scene and absence of comment on shot type and composition. Each of the examples lacked detailed explanation of the technical features that is needed for the higher mark levels. The response flatters to deceive with the use of evident terminology, but lacking in accurate analysis. This candidate would benefit from practising analysis of a media text, especially with a focus on connotative meanings.

Question 1 - mid-level response 

Often a candidate asks “Why have I not reached the top level for my exam response?”. It’s evident that many candidates choose to ignore analysis of two key areas: sound and editing. Frequently these areas are ignored or addressed in a superficial way. For example ‘the editing was continuous’ or ‘seamless’ or the use of sound may be restricted to comments on dialogue.


Question 1 - Level 3 example 

Here is an example of where a Level 3 candidate discusses sound. In this extract the candidate achieves a low Level 3 response and they attempt to analyse the use of sound and editing, but in a general ‘on the surface’ analysis. They could have gained more marks with specific analysis of the use of sound beyond dialogue and accents and with simple reference to pacing and shot-reverse-shot. It would have been better for the candidate to discuss the motivation behind the use of sound and editing, for example by providing more detail to how meaning was created through the technical elements used.

Sound and editing 

I would encourage more practise in the classroom. It is good to ask questions such as, what motivates a shot reverse shot? What does this reveal to the viewer? Or explain why the pace of editing represented social status and class in different ways. 

The media areas which are often omitted are those on sound and editing. Candidates struggle to engage with editing in particular, but they need not. Least, we should not forget that editing is passed to create perspective and construct hierarchies – through the use of motivated shots and points of view.

Representation of Age - Waterloo Road exemplar

1. Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the representation of age using the following:

 Camera shots, angle, movement and composition

• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scene (50 marks)

 This exemplar is analysed in chronological sequence using only the above four criteria. It is assumed the student has taken notes on the second, thrid and fourth screenings and on each occasion added to his/her initial observations by splitting the notes page into one column covering textual analysis and opposite, in the second column, identifying how each aspect reveals a representation. Alternative approaches are equally efficient and can involve taking notes covering each aspect separately by using a writing frame detailing camera shots, angle, movement, composition, editing, sound and mise-en-scene noting how each constructs a representation. The essay sould then be written up using each individual aspect.

A low angle shot of tan leather shoes walking slowly but confidently across the floor suggests connotations of authority. This then cuts to a medium shot of an older teacher and two young pupils. The teacher conforms to stereotypes of older age by analysing elements of the mise-en-scene including his dress code, body language but also his tone of voice. He wears an old fashioned cardigan, is standing with his hands in his pockets and is talking in a sarcastic way to the pupils who wear school uniform (signifying binary oppositions of age), stutter and lack confidence when replying. The teacher is then framed centrally between the two pupils. The camera cuts to a two shot in medium close up of him standing next to a younger teacher again promoting his stereotypical age and wisdomby patronising her for not insuring the video camera in diegetic dialogue and using his body language.

This shot then cuts to a scene where we see an older male site manager (the camera shows a close up of his door plaque) and a young male pupil in conversation. The pupil’s body language is stereotypical as he leans against a wall while the non conformist way he wears his tie (not tied up properly, big knot) has stereotypical connotations of rebellious youth culture. The older site manager sounds verbally more confident and although not a teacher is smartly dressed for the work environment with a pencil behind his ear, itself having connotations of work. This, using Levi Strauss’s theory frames him in binary opposition to the boy who appears lazy and who is persuaded by the older wiser site manager to go away and write his essay. In a short period of time during these first two scenes clear stereotypes of older age ‘signifying’ (De Saussure) wisdom and youth signifying rebellion are established.

A long shot front on shows two girls and a boy walking into medium shot along a school corridor. Again, the girls’ dress code suggests rebellion while all three are discussing their parents and a problem with a fellow pupil’s parents. This furthers the connotations of their young age and emphasises their vulnerability and reliance on older adults. However, the connotations of age and wisdom are disrupted in this scene as a close up reveals a girl who describes her parents as a “dad who never comes home” and a “mum who is a ho-bag”. This burst of diegetic dialogue is important in challenging age stereotypes representing older people as more responsible, as quirky upbeat non-diegetic music starts. This music reinforces stereotypes of youth culture and the school environment they are in.

In the following scene we see a male teacher positioned higher than his pupils behind a desk in a stereotypical classroom situation. He is framed in medium shot. The mise-en-scene anchors his age, authority and status with objects and props including school desks, books, wall displays and a white board projection representing the younger pupils. In terms of dress code there is also a clear difference between the older teacher and the students as his authority is revealed by his dress code, which includes a shirt and tie but also with sleeves rolled up suggesting he is ready for some serious work. The pupils wear their uniforms casually rejecting stereotypical conformity with one girl wearing larger hooped earrings.

The non-diegetic music changes to something more fast tempo as club music (more upbeat than before) and use of hand held camera introduce two students, Amy and Stuart, in confrontation. The moving hand held camera, increased tempo of the music and framing all add to reinforce the fact that this is a stereotypical school spat between two young pupils. As the teacher rushes in the pace of the editing increases as it appears that the boy is having an asthma attack. The older teacher uses his stereotypical calmness and authority to deal with the situation while diegetic dialogue parallels the anxiety that the editing represents with phrases uttered by the teacher like “where is his inhaler?” The club music is edited into a piece of music with more hip hop connotations and is used as a sound bridge to the next scene cutting to a low angle shot of a man in front of a set of doors.

The camera tilts up to reveal an older Maths teacher looking embarrassed wearing stereotypically young person’s clothing including low slung jeans with high visible underpants, trainers and a music t-shirt. This then intercuts with a shot of a bubbly young girl in high angle standing on the stair trying to reassure him that he looks OK. The camerawork challenges the traditional meaning of low angle and high angle by representing the subject shot in low angle (the teacher) as vulnerable; he is trying to appeal more to his pupils by dressing younger. His vulnerability is reinforced by a two shot of two schoolgirls laughing at him for trying to look more fashionable even though the girl on the stairs states: “what do kids know about fashion?” This dialogue could be understood using dominant or oppositional readings (Stuart Hall – 1980): young people really don’t know about fashion or they can humiliate older teachers because they do. In this respect the girl on the stairs challenges the stereotype of a younger person. Finally, a medium close up of two teachers reveals one trying to persuade the other to go back to his usual dress code while the presence for the first time of only adults in the frame signifies the end of the non-diegetic music.

• Explanation/analysis/argument: Excellent understanding of the way that technical aspects are used to construct a representation. Clear logical deconstruction of text linking directly to the question.
• Use of examples: Good range of examples and appropriate sequences analysed to reveal a representation. The key focus has been on camera shots, angles, movement, composition, mise-en-scene and sound with some reference to editing, which perhaps could have been developed a little more.
• Use of Terminology: Sophisticated use of media language and technical terminology.
• Complex issues expressed clearly and fluently, sentences and paragraphs consistently relevant and well structured with few, if any, errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Mark: 46/100 (‘A’)