A2

CRITICAL
PERSPECTI
VES PAPER
G325
1

REVISION
GUIDE

THE EXAM

The A2 exam worth 25% of your final A-level grade and is made
up of 2 separate sections

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Your Production

2 compulsory questions worth 25 marks each = 50 marks

in total

Section B: Contemporary Media Issues

1 question (Question number 2) from a choice of 2 worth
50 marks
There are a selection of optional topics for this section but here
we study Media and Collective Identity so make sure you look
for that on the exam paper!

SECTION A - THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF

PRODUCTIONS

Question 1
A question that requires students to describe and evaluate the
development of their skills over the course of their AS
Production work to their A2 Production work.
The question will ask students to focus their answer on ONE
OR TWO of the following issues:

Digital Technology
Creativity
Research and Planning
Post-Production
Using conventions of real media texts

Candidates can also choose to discuss media products they

have made outside of school during these two years.
On the following pages is a detailed breakdown of things you
could discuss for each of the above 5 topics.
The sections highlighted in green are the most important to
include if you get that question

Digital Technology how your skills have progressed

and how they helped you in your productions
Throughout your essay you should try and give several examples
of real occasions you used these technologies. For example At
AS we started to use Blogger to keep a record of all our
coursework. We had no real experience of blogging prior to this
etc then at A2 we developed our skills with blogger so
instead of having a group blog, we were able to have an
individual one. This gave us more autonomy over our own work
and helped us take more responsibility for all the research and
planning
Intro: Digital technologies have a had a massive influence on media
production over the last few years and since you started in Year 12 you
have learned a massive amount about how to use them and what the
benefits are of using them. They in turn have had a massive impact on
the quality of your finished products.
Final Cut Pro / Express in comparison to I Movie etc Had zero
experience at the beginning and have now moved from basic editing to
more complex editing, effects, transitions, sound manipulation. Quick to
upload so something can be filmed, uploaded and edited in a matter of
minutes. Be specific What specific techniques did your group use and
where?
Social Networking Sites Allows you to communicate with a far wider
network of people than other websites. You could have used this to
gather audience research, upload your video and ask for feedback etc..
Be specific Give an example of something you did using facbook etc
You Tube Allows you to communicate with a far wider network of people
than other websites. Allowed you to research existing opening sequences
and music videos.. you uploaded your opening sequences and used the
feedback / comments that people posted to help you improve when it
came to your A2 productions etc.. Enabled you to post your own video to a
massive audience. Be specific Give example of real video you looked at,
real comment you got etc..
Digital Cameras Never used before. Struggled initially with holding
steady shots, framing etc.. But they allow instant playback, LCD screen,
small, portable (in comparison to larger older bulkier cameras) etc.
Allowed you to film in small spaces, to easily travel all over London to film,
to film something and view it straight away to check if was ok. Now can
easily film a variety of shot types.
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Photoshop (you used to use Word and Powerpoint etc) Photoshop

allows manipulation of images, effects, colours, cropping, layering images
and words. Be specific What did YOUR GROUP do on Photoshop?
Other technologies you could mention include : Live Type,
Blogging, Prezzi, Internet
Conclusion: Digital Technology has enabled you (a consumer of media) to
become a producer that can not only make a higher quality media
product, but edit it and distribute it to a wide audience..
To get A & B grades
To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not
just DESCRIBING how your skills developed. Instead you need to focus on
the EVALUATE part. To EVALUATE you could comment on any of the
following throughout your work

HOW important digital technology was

WHY was digital technology important

WHAT EFFECT did digital technology have on your final work

WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without digital

technology?

HOW did digital technology benefit you?

To Prepare:
In this space write at least one example of something specific you
did with this technology and explain how it helped you

Technology
At AS we used Premiere Pro to

How it helped us

At A2 we used Premiere Pro in a

different way

At AS we used Facebook..

At A2 we used Facebook in a
different way

At AS we used You Tube to..

At A2 we used You Tube in a

different way

At AS we used Digital Cameras

to

At A2 we used Digital Cameras in

a different way

At AS we used
Fireworks/Photoshop to

At A2 we used
Fireworks/Photoshop in a
different way

Creativity - how your skills have progressed and how

they helped you in your productions
Intro - What IS Creativity DEFINE IT - It is the making of new things
and the re-arranging of the old. eg the ability to have your OWN ideas
and not just copy other peoples. The ability to do things that are unusual
and different etc..
Where did your original ideas come from? How did you increase
your ability to come up with your own ideas? Did you mind map? Did you
share ideas? Did you do creative types of research eg not just
questionnaires with people you knew, but using You Tube to get comments
from people around the world, etc. Give real, specific examples.
Locations / Sets / Costumes At first you chose locations that were
near by and easy to access (give example) Then at A2 you were more
creative in your choices (give example) Did you choose unusual ones?
Did it take creative planning to adapt them? Be specific What creative
locations did you use? Why did using creative locations help your
production?
Camera At first your shots and filming were practical. You filmed a
medium shot because you hadnt considered doing anything else. In your
prelim task at AS you had a set of specific camera shots to include. For
AS, your camera skills were quite basic. Now you have developed so you
started filming in a more creative way eg high / low angles, putting the
camera on the floor, in the fridge, using stop motion, green screening etc..
Be specific giving real examples of creative camera shots you used and
explain how they made your production better
Editing At first you werent very creative. Editing was functional putting
shots next to shots to create some meaning for your AS opening
sequence.. However you couldnt do that at A2 as just having a narrative
wasnt enough.. you needed to create energy and engage the audience
and edit to the flow of the music using effects etc ... be specific, give real
examples of creative editing you tried and explain what impact they had
on your production
Genre / Conventions How have you developed your use of genre /
conventions from just copying conventions, to instead, being able to
challenge and subvert conventions of genres. Were you creative by
combining genres?
Casting At AS you werent very creative in your casting.. Chose people
who were friends etc.. Then you became more creative at casting

including sending out facebook messages, holding auditions etc.. How

were you creative in your casting? Be specific. What impact did this
have?
Photoshop - Never used before. When using Word / Publisher your
creativity was stifled because you are limited in how much you can edit
the images. Photoshop allowed you to manipulate images etc.. Be
specific, give real examples of creative Photoshop work you did
Conclusion
Certain Restraints on your creativity in place from exam board - you HAD
to make a music video, digipak, poster etc.. These rules do limit your
ability to be creative to a certain extent
Not easy to just be creative. You actually needed to do practical things
like research, paperwork, storyboards etc to ALLOW you to develop our
creativity. Without solid research and planning, being creative was
impossible. You needed a balance of organised AND creative people in a
group to be successful.
You cant just BE creative. Often it is a learning process where you start
by being told what to do, then you try doing things on your own and then
you end up being confident and skilled enough to experiment which leads
to creativity. You have to make mistakes at first to be creative.

To get A & B grades

To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not
just DESCRIBING how your creativity developed. Instead you need to
focus on the EVALUATE part. To EVALUATE you could comment on any of
the following throughout your work

HOW important creativity was

WHY was creativity important

WHAT EFFECT did creativity have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with being creative?

WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without creativity?

HOW did creativity benefit you?

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Creativity
How it helped us
At AS we were creative coming up
with ideas by

At A2 we were more creative

coming up with ideas by

At AS we were creative choosing

locations by..

At A2 we were more creative

choosing locations by

At AS we chose costumes by

At A2 we were more creative with

our costumes by

At AS we copied conventions of
the genre for example

At A2 we were more creative with

the conventions for example

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At AS we used basic editing

techniques such as

At A2 we were more creative with

our editing for example

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Research & Planning - how your skills have progressed

and how they helped you in your productions
Intro: Research & Planning have played a huge role in all of your
production work so far and hence your skills in R&P have developed
massively. Your research and planning have made your production work
develop in terms of quality.
Audience questionnaires allowed you to find out who your target
audience was, what they wanted, what they liked etc.. Be specific, what
did you find out from your questionnaires? How did you improve your use
of questionnaires at A2? Asked better people to complete them? Wrote
better, more focused questions? Qualitative and Quantitative questions
Audience focus groups (both before and after) same as above,
allowed you to personally interact with your target audience, delve
deeper, get them to clarify what they mean etc.. Focus groups after
production helped you to see if youd achieved your goals. At the
beginning many people didnt know how to do a focus group, or what
questions to ask. Now at A2 you are confident talking directly to the
audience members, asking the right questions etc. Be specific with things
you asked your focus group or what they said
Looking at real film opening sequences /music videos At first your
analysis was mainly descriptive, as you simply watched the opening
sequences on You Tube / DVDs and described what you saw.. but as your
analytical skills have developed at A2 your ability to use these as research
has developed too.. Now you can deconstruct a piece of footage in tiny
detail, commenting on colour, camera angle, shot size etc.. Be specific
with what real texts you looked at and what you learned from them. You
now watch a wider variety of texts (not just famous ones) and also
watched student made work which helped you see what was possible on
zero budget with school equipment.
Storyboarding / Shotlists Never done storyboarding before A-Level..
First storyboards at AS tended to be simple, with mainly pictures, and very
little shot description or editing information. Now as you have developed
your technical skills, your ability to create detailed storyboards have
developed.. these are useful to give the crew a specific idea of what to
shoot (useful if someone is absent) and helps you to focus on getting
particular shots rather than just filming random stuff. Helped you get the
right amount and type of footage.
Location recces Never did one at AS, you just filmed in local places eg
school.. At A2 you have learned to check for other aspects such as noise
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levels, power points to plug in equipment, health & safety, availability etc.
Plus you have sourced more interesting, exciting locations.

Casting At beginning you tended to cast friends, students etc.. Quickly

learned that people were unreliable, or didnt look right for the part etc..
Now you are able to cast the right people for the role, hold auditions, do
test shots, try them out on camera to see if they can act etc.. be specific
with real casting issues you had
Prelim The prelim in Year 12 helped you to develop skills you didnt
have before such as framing, different angles, 180 degree rule etc.. For
music videos you did a prelim task that involved shooting material for a
quick song and then re-editing it for a slow song. Some of you also made
a trial sequence for a Britney Spears video. How did this help you
progress? Be specific with real issues you had. If you hadnt done the
prelims, what problems might you have encountered?
Conclusion: Research & planning skills have changed you from a
producer of basic media texts, into a producer of complex quality media
texts. R&P skills are essential to making someone a better, more creative
producer of media.
To get A & B grades
To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not
just DESCRIBING how your research and planning developed. Instead you
need to focus on the EVALUATE part. To EVALUATE you could comment on
any of the following throughout your work

HOW important research and planning was

WHY was research and planning important

WHAT EFFECT did research and planning have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with research and planning?

WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without research and
planning?

HOW did research and planning benefit you?

Research and Planning

How it helped us

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At AS we used questionnaires to

At A2 we improved our use of

questionnaires by

At AS we used focus groups to

At A2 we improved our use of

focus groups by

At AS we examined real opening

sequences such as / in order to

At A2 we improved our research /

analysis of real texts by

At AS we used storyboards for

At A2 we improved our use of

storyboards by

At AS we completed prelim tasks

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to

At A2 we improved the way we

used the prelim task by

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Post Production - how your skills have progressed and

how they helped you in your productions
Intro: You have gone from knowing virtually nothing about post
production to now being able to complete complex editing of video, sound
and graphics..
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 etc Had zero experience at the beginning
and have now moved from basic editing to more complex editing, effects,
transitions, sound manipulation. Quick to upload so something can be
filmed, uploaded and edited in a matter of minutes. Can also export your
movie to allow you to upload it online etc How did this change the
footage that you had? be specific with real tools and effects you used
and how it helped eg chroma keying, green screen, stop motion animation
etc
Specific about premiere pro tools you specialised in compare what
special effects you used last year and this year. What are the differences.
Why was this useful?
Photoshop (you used to use Word and Powerpoint etc) At A2
Photoshop allows manipulation of images, effects, colours, cropping,
layering images and words - How did this change the footage that you
had? Be specific with real effects you tried on Photoshop
You Tube / Redrafting / Peer Assessment At AS, you just uploaded
your final version to You Tube and left it there. At A2, after editing you
uploaded your opening sequences you used the feedback / comments that
people posted to help you improve it further and make multiple
improvements.. be specific with real comments you got and how this
helped your post production
Wix.com
What did you use to make your digipak?
Anything else?
Conclusion: Your post production skills have developed hugely and has
enabled you to take a simple piece of footage and turn it into something
complex and creative.

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To get A & B grades

To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not
just DESCRIBING how your post production skills developed. Instead you
need to focus on the EVALUATE part. To EVALUATE you could comment on
any of the following throughout your work

HOW important post production skills were

WHY were post production skills important

WHAT EFFECT did post production skills have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with your post production skills?

WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without post production
skills?

HOW did post production skills benefit you?

Post production
At AS we used Adobe Premiere...

How it helped us

At A2 we improved our editing

skills on Premiere by
At AS we used tools for film
sound...

At A2 we improved our use

At AS we knew this about

Photoshop
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At A2 we improved our
understanding of Photoshop by

At AS we got feedback after the

production by..

At A2 we improved post
production feedback by

Use of Real media Conventions

Conventions are the common features of a particular type of media or a
particular genre.
Introduction Over the two year course you have learned a lot about,
not just what the conventions of particular forms and genres are, but how
to use them in creative ways in your own work
Main:
Prelim task you included different types of camera shot, and editing
techniques. But did you make the genre clear of what you were doing?
Did you colour grade it? Did you change the sound levels or add sound /
editing effects? Probably not.. So your use of conventions was very
limited. Although you could probably name a few conventions of horror /
action etc you didnt actually know how to use them in your work yet. At
A2 you were more confident with your technical abilities which meant you
could use the prelim task to experiment with conventions of the genre
give example
Your genre - At AS, how did you identify what the conventions were of
your film genre? What videos did you watch and what were the
conventions you found? How easy was it to identify the conventions?

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Then show development by discussing A2 What did you do differently to

identify the conventions of the genre? Did you look at videos AND theory
(Andrew Goodwin / Laura Mulvey)? This was likely to be a lot harder as
music videos often belong to 2 or more genres and many genres of music
have very few semantic elements (eg visual conventions). Discuss
some videos you watched and identify what you thought the main
conventions of your genre were. How did using media theory to identify
conventions help you at A2?
Camera At AS, what camera shots / movements did you use that are
conventional of horror films? For A2, give an example of how you used
conventional camera work for music videos in your video. At A2, your
camera work may have been more about being creative. Explain how you
pushed the boundaries with your camera work at A2? What did you do
differently?
Mise-En-Scene At AS, what mise-en-scene did you use that was
conventional of horror films? (costumes, locations, colours etc) and what
effect might these have had on the audience? At A2, give some examples
of mise-en-scene you chose that was conventional of your genre. You
could discuss how at A2 your mise-en-scene was likely to be more creative
because of how you have developed your sense of how elements can
communicate meaning to an audience. Where as AS was about what was
convenient and easy, at A2, you deliberately chose locations and
costumes that were more planned to signify a meaning, more creative etc.
Give an example of how you pushed yourself with your mise-en-scene at
A2? What did you do differently?
Editing At AS, what editing techniques did you use that were
conventional of horror films? (cuts, dissolves, flash to white, wipes, colour
grading, other effects etc) and say why you used them. At A2, give some
examples of editing you chose that was conventional of your genre. You
could discuss how at A2 your editing HAD to be more creative as when
you researched videos (give example) you discovered that most videos
have fast paced shots lasting less than 3 seconds which meant your
editing had to be faster, more visually interesting (to engage an audience
instantly) etc. Give an example of how you pushed yourself with your
editing at A2? What did you do differently?
Sound At AS, what sound techniques did you use that were
conventional of horror films? (diegetic, non diegetic, sound effects, sound
bridges, soundtrack, dialogue etc) and say why you used them. At A2,
you were very restricted with your use of sound as most of you just used
whatever came on the music track itself. However this forced you to

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become more creative. If you did add sound / dialogue on, then give an
example of where you did this and why. If you did, you could explain how
actually, not being able to manipulate or cut the sound made the process
more difficult as you had to ensure all the miming of the lyrics complete
matched, at the right pace etc. Give example of how you did this or
problems you encountered and how you solved them. ]
Conclusion At AS, you were still learning about the concept of genre,
and felt as though conventions were very much easily identifiable and set
in stone. Many of you ensured that you followed lots of your genres
conventions in your AS work. However by the time you reached A2, you
learned that genre is much more of a fluid concept, less easy to define,
especially within music, and this led to you being confident enough to
both follow and challenge conventions of your genre, pushing the
boundaries throughout which impacted your creativity.

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QUESTION 2
This question will require students to select EITHER their AS
production OR their A2 production (whichever makes more
sense for the question) and evaluate it in terms of one of the
following media concepts.

Genre
Narrative
Representation
Audience
Media Language

Each of the above 5 topics of broken down here into more detail
for you to consider.

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GENRE
To get C&D Grades
Intro: What was your genre? What are the conventions of the genre (eg
horror / rock etc) and how did you find these out? Give examples of real
films / music videos you watched to find this out
Main: How have you signified the genre using:

Colour
Camera shots / angles / movements
Editing techniques
Sound / dialogue / music
Mise-en-scene such as Costumes / props / Locations

Conclusion
Do you think you made the genre of your piece clear to an audience?
How do you know this?

How to get A&B Grades

To gain an A or a B grade you really need to try and incorporate theories
into the above points. Try and use some of the theories below
(incorporating them throughout rather than having a whole separate
sections for them.) What do theorists say about the genre? Explain how
your video either conforms to the theorists ideas OR challenges them and
why
FILM GENRE THEORIES

MUSIC VIDEO GENRE

THEORIES

GENERAL GENRE THEORIES

Steve Neale thinks that film

genres are constantly
changing and evolving and are
not set in stone. He thinks
there are 5 main stages in film
genres. Which stage does
your film fit into? Explain why.

Andrew Goodwin
Thinks that music videos
follow the following
conventions:

Robert Stam suggests genre is

hard to define, doesnt really
exist and is just a concept made
up by theorists and critics. Do
you agree? Give examples from
your work that suggests that
genre either IS or ISNT easy to
define

The form finding itself (Psycho)

The classic (Halloween)

Conventions depend
on the genre of the
music
Star persona is

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 Stretching the boundaries of

the genre (Nightmare on Elm
Street)
Parody (Scary Movie)
Homage (Scream)

important and
companies use close
ups to sell them to
the audience

Voyeuristic images
are used to attract an
audience

They often contain

intertextual
references to other
media

There is a link
between the lyrics
and the visuals

There is a link
between the visuals
and the music / pace
etc

Rick Altman says that the way we

define a genre is by two main
things:

Semantic Elements (eg signs

such as knives, blood, dark
colours, eerie music). He
thinks these elements are
easier for audiences to
recognise and identify

Syntactic elements (includes

THEMES such as fear,
revenge, rage as well as plots
such as PLOTS such as group
go on trip, one by one they
die, last girl survives and kills
killer) He thinks these
elements are more subtle and
harder to recognise.

Identify semantic and syntactic

elements in your video that
might help audiences identify
the genre of your film / music
video

Laura Mulvey - Suggests that

women in all media are
objectified. She is a feminist
who believes that women are
often shown through the ideas
of men (male gaze) and are
seen in voyeuristic ways. She
also thinks that women are seen
in one of either two ways the
virgin character or a whore
character. This is the virgin /
whore dichotomy

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25

AUDIENCE
To get a C/D grade
Intro: Why is it important / essential for a media product like a film or a
music video to appeal to an audience?
Who was your target audience for your production? Gender, age, class,
hobbies and media interests. To get the A&B grades, try and describe
their social demographic groups (ABC1C2DE)
What did you do to research what your audience wanted? What did you
find out about what they wanted? To get the A&B grades, dont just
describe what they wanted, try and comment on why they might want
these things use theory here.
Main: How did you use the following things to attract / engage an
audience?:

Camera

Editing

Sound

Mise-en-scene

What feedback did you seek AFTER your production and what was it like?
How did a real audience react to your product? Did they react in the
way you thought they would? Why?
Conclusion: How important it is to consider your audience in depth and
how this changed / affected your production overall.

To get A&B grades

To gain an A or a B grade you really need to try and incorporate theories
into the above points. Try and use SMALL portions of SOME of the theories
below (incorporating them throughout rather than having a whole
separate section for them.)
Theorist
Richard Dyer thinks that audiences
want media products that offer them
Utopian Solutions to their problems

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How I will apply it to my text

Blumler & katz Think that audiences

want media products that gratify
particular needs (Uses & gratifications)
eg escape, entertainment etc
Frankfurt School Hypodermic
needle theory. Think audiences might
be directly influenced by media
products

Stuart Hall Encoding and Decoding

tests AND Preferred, negotiated and
oppositional readings. Thinks
audiences will react in different ways to
media products.

Pluralists think that the media

operates on a supply and demand basis
and so the media must give the
audience what it wants in order to
survive and be successful.

Tajfel & Turner intergroup

discrimination theory. Think that
audiences enjoy watching texts where
they can feel superior to the characters
in terms of money, class, success etc..

Andrew Goodwin believes that

audiences are often played in the
position of a voyeur within music videos
(watching someone). He also believes
that the use of close ups is important to
help the audience appreciate the star
persona of the lead singer

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Laura Mulvey believes the media

texts often encourage the audience to
objectify women and look at them with
a male gaze

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REPRESENTATION
Depending on who the main characters were in your AS & A2 productions,
choose 1 or more of the following categories of people, and discuss how
your video represents them
Intro: Explain what media product of yours you will be analysing and
which social group/s you will be analysing the representation of
Main:
AGES - How does your video construct a representation of different ages?
consider costumes, props, location, body language, facial expression,
camera, sound, editing
ETHNICITY - What about different ethnicities? consider costumes, props,
location, body language, facial expression, camera, sound, editing
GENDER consider costumes, props, location, body language, facial
expression, camera, sound, editing.
CLASS consider costumes, props, location, body language, facial
expression, camera, sound, editing
GOOD vs EVIL - consider costumes, props, location, body language, facial
expression, camera, sound, editing
Have you included stereotypes in your production and why? (class, age,
gender, ethnicity etc?)
Have you challenged stereotypes in your production and why? (see above)
Conclusion: Why did you create these specific representations? What
effect might they have had on the audience?
Techniques I used

How it represents that

character

Camera shots:

Mise-En-Scene:

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Editing:

Sound:

To get A&B grades

To gain an A or a B grade you really need to try and incorporate theories
into the above points. Try and use some of the theories below
(incorporating them throughout rather than having a whole separate
sections for them.)
Theorist

Theory What to write about

Levi Strauss

said that media texts often represent characters in

terms of binary opposites such as good vs evil, weak
vs strong. Did you do this? If so how and why? What
effects might it have on the story, the audience etc..

Laura Mulvey

Believes that women are often objectified in the

media. She says they are looked at with a male
gaze and are seen as sex objects.
She also believes that there are all too often only two
roles for women in the media. Either the virgin
character or the whore character. This is called the
virgin / whore dichotomy.
Can their theories be applied to your video? Did you
conform to their ideas of representation or challenge
them? Why?

Vladimir Propp

Propps theory of narrative suggests that texts often

represent characters as particular types in order to
make them easily identifiable to an audience and
help them know how to react to them.

Hero
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Villain
Princess
Donor / Helper
Dispatcher

If you included any of these characters, how did you

represent someone as the hero or villain. Why
does it engage an audience if they either DO know
who they are or DONT know who they are?
Angela McRobbie

http://www.angelamcrobbie.com/
Angela McRobbie says that men and women are often
represented through stereotypes in the media and
are often shown in traditional gender roles. For
example women are often shown as weaker, victims,
mothers, carers etc. Men are often shown as
aggressive, strong, managers, leaders etc.
Can their theories be applied to your video? Did you
conform to their ideas of representation or challenge
them? Why?

Stanley Cohen

Believes that particular groups in society are

demonised and marginalised through negative
representations which may have the effect of causing
a moral panic where the majority of society fears that
social group. Have you demonised a particular group
eg black people? Young people? Why?

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NARRATIVE
To get a C grade
Intro: What is the traditional type of narrative for your genre / type of
product? How did you find this out? What other real texts did you look at
that helped you work this out?
Have you used a Linear / Non Linear Narrative, where and why?
Main: How have you used the following to signify / communicate the
narrative of your film / music video?

Camera give several examples of real shots / movements you used

Editing - give several examples of real transitions / effects you used

Sound - give several examples of real sounds, music, dialogue you

used

Mise-en-scene give several examples of real costumes, locations,

props, you used

Narrative Enigma where have you included this in your opening

sequence and why is it important?
Conclusion: Explain what audiences thought of your narrative. Was it
clear? Could it have been better? How?
Techniques I used

What it signified about the narrative

of my text

Camera:

Mise-En-Scene:

Editing:

Sound:

32

To get A&B Grades

Theorist

Theory what to write about

Todorov

thinks there are several main stages to a complete narrative,

recognisable in any story
Equilibrium
Disruption
Resolution
Equilibrium
Explain whether you included these stages and where. Did you
have them in the same order? If not, why not? What was the
benefit of starting with the disruption for example?

Levi Strauss

says that Binary opposites are important in narratives such as

good vs evil, women vs men, crime vs justice. Explain any binary
opposites identifiable in your text and explain why you think they
might be important to include

Unknown
theorist

According to an unknown theorist, there are two types of narrative

Vladimir Propp

Unrestricted narration where information is given out in as

much detail as possible with very little restrictions so the
narrative is clear. Audiences often know more than the
characters so we know who the killer is, or where he is. If
you used this technique, explain where and why is it
engaging for an audience?
Restricted narration where the narrative is kept minimal,
with parts unclear eg a thriller film. Audiences are often in
the dark about many parts of the narrative. If you used this
technique, explain where and why this is engaging for an
audience

Propps theory of narrative suggests that texts NEED particular

characters to develop the narrative

33

Hero
Villain
Princess
Donor / Helper
Dispatcher

If you included any of these characters, how did you make it clear
who was the hero / villain etc? Why does it engage an audience if
they either DO know who they are or DONT know who they are?
He also thinks there are particular parts of a narrative that always
happen eg hero gets a quest, someone is hurt, hero battles the
villain etc. If you included any of these things, why do you think
audiences enjoy seeing them?
Andrew
Goodwin

thinks that in music videos the narrative often links to the lyrics
and the tempo of the music.. How did you do this?

Allan Cameron

thinks there are several different types of more unusual narrative.

If you included any of these, explain where, and then explain why
you included them.

Anachronic Narrative includes regular flashback and

flashforwards, with all different narrative parts being just as
important. Such as Pulp Fiction, Memento
Forking Path narrative shows two different outcomes that
are different only as a result of a small change or decision
such as GroundHog day, Sliding Doors
Episodic Narratives separate narratives that have some
sort of link. Eg different characters lives, linked only by the
fact that they are all involved in one incident
Split Screen Narratives Different stories, linked by the fact
that they are shown on screen at the same time.

34

MEDIA LANGUAGE - IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT MEDIA

LANGUAGE REFERS TO THE 4 MAIN TECHNICAL
ELEMENTS
Tackle this one in much the same way as you tackled the TV Drama exam
at AS. You should be ANALYSING your work (not describing), discussing
how you created meaning for the audience on particular issues such as
genre, representation, narrative, audience, atmosphere etc.. Basically
WHY you chose particular shots, sounds, transitions etc
Intro: Explain what text you are analysing
Main: Include all 4 of the following key areas

Camera shot size, framing, high & low angles, subjective &
objective filming, hand held, tilts, pans, zooms etc, green screen

Sound diegetic and non-diegetic, sound effects, ambient sound,

dialogue, music, voice over

Editing fades, cuts, wipes, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion,

colour effects like black & white, bad tv, stop motion animation,
green screening and chroma key work

Mise En Scene costume, lighting, location, body language, acting,

make up, props etc

Conclusion: How well do you think you used media language to

communicate meaning to an audience?
Techniques I used
Camera:

What it signified to an audience

Mise-En-Scene

Editing:

35

Sound:

To get A&B Grades

For this question you could choose to include ANY of the theories we have
looked at. Particularly good ones might be:
Theorist

Theory what to write about

Blumler & Katz /

Richard Dyer

Uses & Gratifications theory / Utopian Solutions explaining

how your use of MEDIA LANGUAGE offers these to an
audience

Vladimir Propp

Propps Character theory how your MEDIA LANGUAGE helps

audiences identify particular characters as heros / villains etc

Stuart Hall

Explain that your decision to use the MEDIA LANGUAGE you

chose was to create a preferred reading for your text. But
that audiences are used to Encoding and Decoding tests AND
could take a negotiated or oppositional reading

Rick Altman

Explain how you used MEDIA LANGUAGE to include

Semantic Elements (eg signs such as knives, blood, dark
colours, eerie music) or to signify Syntactic elements (eg
themes like love, revenge).

36

SECTION B MEDIA AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY

Students will have a choice of two questions on this topic and
will only have to answer one.
The questions will be related to ONE of the four following topics
although it could be worded in a variety of different ways:
How do the contemporary media represent nations,
regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in
different ways?
How does contemporary representation compare to
previous time periods?
What are the social implications of different media
representations of groups of people?
To what extent is human identity increasingly mediated?
The collective group we choose to study here is British
people so all your case studies will involve British people in
some way. Students MUST discuss case studies from TWO
different types of media. Here we study Film AND Television
examples. Students who only refer to one of these cannot get
higher than a D grade.
The focus is on contemporary media texts from the last 5 years
which means students must have lots of modern case studies
to refer from although they can refer to older texts to make
points about changes in identity. Students must also be
prepared to discuss the history and future of identity in any
answer they give and will be unable to obtain higher than a B
grade if they do not mention these in any answer.

The material we have learned over the last 6 months has been
broken down over the following pages.

37

British People In the Media

Britain is (and has mostly always been) represented in two binary opposite
ways.

In a commercial, positive way

In a gritty, social realist, negative way

Commercial Representations
Britain is portrayed in a glossy, positive light. These representations often
centre on Surrey / West London and often focus on the white middle and
upper classes. We often see royals, lords and ladies, or just very
successful characters in them. They often speak with a formal RP English
accent and live either in the idyllic countryside with cobbled streets and
country cottages and estates OR in upmarket London flats and houses in
Chelsea and other expensive areas. The syntactic themes that are tackled
tend to be positive ones such as love, life, friendship, family etc.
Characters are often quite successful, good, and enjoy their lives in
Britain. If they do show working class people then they are portrayed as
being very happy with their lives too and are often shown as mingling
happily with the middle and upper classes. British people are portrayed in
a positive light, as friendly, welcoming, hard working, successful, lovable
etc. These films are mainly aimed a mass audience, including Americans.
They often star international film stars from America. They are often high
budget. There is always a happy ending.
Film examples: Mrs Miniver, Mary Poppins, Love Actually, Notting Hill,
The Holiday, The Kings Speech, Atonement, The History Boys, The
Duchess, The Queen, Quantum Of Solace
TV Examples: My Family, Downton Abbey, Lark Rise to Candleford

Social Realist Representations

Britain is portrayed in a negative light. These representations often centre
around South and East London OR regional areas in the north of England.
They often focus on working classes and a mix of ethnicities. We often
see teenagers, gang members, unemployed people, and other
unsuccessful people. They often speak with informal language and / or
regional accents and live in run down towns, urban areas, council estates
38

etc. The syntactic themes tackled include negative themes such as crime,
drugs, bullying, racism, divorce, loneliness etc. Characters often are very
poor, have bad lifestyles and dislike many things about their lives. They
are often shown as being totally separate from the middle and upper
classes and unable to mingle with them. British people are often shown
as being rude, involved in crime, aggressive, selfish and unsuccessful.
These films are often aimed a niche British audience. They often star
British actors or unknown new actors. They are often low budget. There
is rarely a happy ending.
Film Examples: Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Kidulthood, Shank,
Adulthood,
TV Examples: Coronation Street, Shameless, Only Fools and Horses,
Phoneshop, Jeremy Kyle.

New Hybrid Representations

Now we are starting to see a few representations of Britain in films and
programmes which have merged these two binary opposite
representations into a more grey area to try and appeal to both
markets. There is no real formula for this. Characters might be
represented as working class but living good lives and having fun. Or
characters might be represented as middle / upper class but are shown
having lots of problems. In order to attract a wider range of British
people they often feature middle ground British person with both
working and middle class characteristics, harder to categorise into a
particular social demographic, and in order to attract an international /
American audience they often have either higher production values
including action sequences and special effects. They often have an
ending which is both happy and sad.
Film Examples: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, St Trinians, Eden Lake,
Attack The Block
TV Examples: Outnumbered, Primeval, Dr Who, Misfits

New Regional Representations

Some argue that rather than a unified collective British identity,
audiences are now craving to feel part of a regional identity instead as it
feels more identifiable for them. Britain is segregated into different
regions of identity such as London, Essex, Liverpool, Scotland etc. Each
39

region has its own set of cultural values and ideologies that are easier to
recognise. Audiences enjoy them as they can either identify with them or
laugh at them, aspire to be them etc. They are represented in a mixture
of both positive and negative ways. These representations are most
popular in TV.
TV Examples: The Only Way is Essex, Desperate Scousewives, Made in
Chelsea, Gavin & Stacey

REASONS FOR THE DIFFERING REPRESENTATIONS OF

BRITAIN IN THE MEDIA
FUNDING / PROFIT Where the money has come from will affect
the type of representation they create. If a film is entirely British
funded (domestic production), the representation is likely to be
social realist as there is less money in Britain for high budget stories
/ actors and they tend to want to just appeal to a niche British
audience. If the project is funded through a combination of British
and International funding (a co-production) then it is likely to be a
commercial representation as they will want to appeal to audiences
from both countries who have a more stereotypically positive view
of Britain.
PLATFORM Films are often seen as more escapist entertainment
where people go to see them because they want to escape to a
more utopian place. They want to be entertained. They also often
get released internationally so need to appeal to an international
audience. TV programmes will often be more gritty
representations as TV programmes have lower budgets, and often
are only see by a British audience so only really need to appeal to
them. Programmes on bigger channels such as the BBC often get
more recognition globally so things like Dr Who have bigger budgets
and a more commercial standpoint.
PURPOSE OF THE TEXT Some directors have different purposes
for their work. For example, Mike Leighs films are made to make a
social comment on society and to try and get people to discuss
tricky or controversial issues. This means his films often show the
negative side of Britain or shows people as unhappy etc

40

DIRECTORS BACKGROUND Their background might include

their race, their class, their childhood, their birthplace, their
nationality, their gender etc. All these things have an effect on the
films they make and the way they represent Britain. For example,
Shane Meadows grew up in a very poor estate, his life badly
affected by the strikes and recession in the 80s and he was
involved in petty crime etc. Therefore he represents Britain different
to Richard Curtis, who was born into a middle / upper class
household, who travelled the world. He went to Oxford University
and met a lot of famous upper class people whilst there.

DOMINANT IDEOLOGY OF THE RULING CLASS Whatever the

dominant ideologies of the ruling class are will affect the way Britain
is shown at the time. For example, a country where the ruling class
want to encourage tourism in their country, and want to portray a
middle class lifestyle as being the optimal aspirational
circumstances to be in, might portray middle class people as being
happy, and the country being very positive.

TARGET AUDIENCE Depending on who the target audience is, the

type of representation of Britain will change. An American target
audience will require a more commercial positive representation of
Britain. A British target audience might need a more niche, gritty
representation.

CURRENT POLITICAL CLIMATE The zeitgeist of the time will

affect the representation of Britain. Films made in the 1940s were
often used as propaganda to motivate British spirit and so were
positive and showed strong communities. Films in the modern age
often show a society torn apart by an age divide with a clear fear of
foreigners etc

GLOBALISATION Globalisation is the increasingly global

relationships shared between different cultures. Many people think
that there are now no specific national cultures, as globalisation
encourages us to borrow our culture from other people. Some argue
that British culture is becoming increasingly Americanised so that
we are losing our traditional heritage. Hence why companies cast
Americans as British people in films, and we are finding increasingly
blurred middle ground in terms of films where there is no strong
British national identity.

41

42

How does contemporary representation

compare to previous time periods?
TIME PERIOD
FILM IS SET
40s / 50s

SOCIAL REALIST

COMMERCIAL

Britain shown as working class,

poor, full of crime, no jobs, no love
and divided in terms of age. Main
themes are teenagers and the
problems they cause in society

Britain shown as one big happy

community. The enemy is foreigners in
other countries. Communities come
together to fight against Germans.
British people all commune together and
there is no divided culture. The main
themes are marriage, survival, winning
the war

Reason: Teenagers given their own

identity for the first time as they now
have to stay in school till they are at
least 15 rather than work. Adults
scared that young people will go
wild with their new found freedom.
Audiences wanted media texts that
they could identify with rather than
escape into.

60s / 70s

80s / 90s

Examples: Saturday Night and

Sunday Morning, A Taste Of Honey
Britain shown as working class,
grim, divided in terms of race.
Main themes are racism and skin
colour.

Reason: Britain needed propaganda to

encourage solidarity among its people,
to convince them that they would win
the war, and to encourage fear in their
enemies.
Examples: Mrs Miniver

Britain shown as a fantasy land where

anything was possible, and everyone
was happy

Reason: A wave of immigrants

entered Britain leading to a massive
change in the ethnic make-up of the
country. British people were scared
of what this would mean for them
and their community.

Reason: The government needed

working class audiences to enjoy
working and be satisfied with their lives.
They were trying to calm peoples fears
about the increasing number of
foreigners entering the country via
immigration

Examples: Love Thy Neighbour,

Rising Damp
Britain shown as working class,
poor, full of crime, no jobs and
disappointment, divided in terms
of gender. Main themes are
recession, drugs, strikes and the
problems caused by women and

Example: Mary Poppins

Britain shown as sweet, blustering,
obsessed with true love, rainy, old
fashioned, romantic, friendly etc. British
women shown as being quite powerful.
There is no divided culture.

43

feminism
Reason: Maggie Thatcher, strikes
and recession meant that British
people had no jobs. In particular
men lost their identities as the
breadwinners. Feminism led to a
rise in power for British women and
Britiain was scared for what this
would mean for British life.

2000 - 2010

2010 - present

Examples: The Full Monty, This is

England, Secrets & Lies,
Trainspotting

Examples: Four Weddings and a

Funeral, Sense & sensibility, Golden
Eye, Shakespeare In Love, Notting Hill,
Vicar Of Dibley,

Britain shown as dirty, full of crime,

no jobs, very divided. Main themes
are crime, terrorism. Shown as
divided in many ways (class, age
and ethnicity mainly).

Britain shown mainly from middle class

perspective. Life is glamorous and
positive. Main themes are love,
romance, marriage and national pride.
There is no divided culture.

Reason: recession has led to lots of

unemployment and therefore divides
between classes, moral panics over
teenagers including riots and knife
crime have led to divides between
the ages and terrorist attacks have
led to divides between ethnicities.

Reason: Mostly to do with the results of

9/11 and the 7/7 bombings making
audiences feel scared. The films and
programmes are designed to make us
feel proud and patriotic of our country in
the wake of the fight against terrorism

Examples: Kidulthood, Adulthood,

Shank, Shameless, Sket, This is
England

Examples: Love Actually, The Holiday,

Downton Abbey, My Family

Films centre around working class

characters with elements of social
realism, but combined with
commercial storylines such as sci fi,
action etc..
Reason: Audiences are getting
bored with seeing working class life
portrayed as being so depressing
and dreary.
44

National identity falling slightly in current

climate. On rare occasions the media
portrays VERY nationalistic
representations, but mostly the trend is
now going towards regional
representations with commercial glossy
characters
Reason: People are getting bored with

Examples: Attack The Block, Eden

lake, Misfits

Summary

Possible
Future

seeing only South / London based

commercial programming.
Example: The Royal Wedding on the
BBC, The Only Way is Essex,
Desperate Scousewives
Commercial films and tv programmes
have changed very little over the years,
always representing Britain in a positive
way as their main purpose is to give
audiences a way of escaping from
whatever is happening in reality.

Social Realist films and TV

programmes have changed
consistently over the years to reflect
the current political climate.
Although the representations of
British life are nearly always
negative in some ways, they tackle
whatever the main political issues
are in Britain at the time to give
audiences something to identify with
1) More and more films mixing social realist and commercial
representations are becoming popular. For example Misfits,
Outnumbered, Attack The Block. In the future perhaps we will no longer
have two clearly defined binary opposites in terms of representation,
and instead we might have more films that portray more of a culturally
homogenous Britain containing both of these representations of Britain
as well as others.
Reason: Extreme recession has led to unemployment in ALL classes, inability
to purchase houses in ALL classes, crime within ALL ages, more acceptance of
different ethnicities etc meaning there is less of a divide between different
social groups.
2) More TV programmes that focus on regional British identity rather than
national British identity are becoming popular. For example Made in
Chelsea, The Only Way Is Essex.
Reason: many say that due to globalisation, we have lost our collective
national British identity as we have so many cultures mixed up together in one
country. We no longer feel like we are British, and so in search of a sense of
collective identity we have recognised that many of us feel part of a collective
group in terms of the region we are from. It gives us a sense of belonging that
we dont get when we consider the country as a whole.

Important to note: Changes in the way Britain is represented are not JUST
explainable by changes in social / political zeitgeist. Changes might also

45

occur because of director, funding, target audience, purpose of the film (social
comment or entertainment), why people watch the film (Uses & Gratifications
etc)
Conclusion
Many aspects of representation have changed over time, probably to reflect the
changes in society that have occurred over the years. Changes in representation
can also be explained by a changing audience, different directors, different target
audiences and purposes of a text.

46

What are the social implications (effects) of

different media representations of British
people?
This question is basically asking you what the different effects could be of
the different representations of British people. I would still discuss the two
main types of representations and incorporate a selection of the effects
below into the appropriate places.

Communication of hegemonic values / dominant ideologies

Very similar to the above point. For example some films are clearly
made by the upper classes (Love Actually / Richard Curtis) and the
representations within the film may reflect the dominant ideologies
that those institutions / producers have, showing the middle / upper
classes as polite, attractive, sexy, exciting, generous, loving, caring
etc and reflecting a massive class divide implying that in our society
the working class tea ladies and the upper class prime ministers can
get along and mix etc. The government provides lots of funding to
British films through the UK Film Council and Lottery Funding and
clearly a national government has a vested interest in promoting
films that portray a national collective identity to encourage
harmony and unity. Theory that could be used here =

Increased / Decreased tourism and British Pride Some films

show Britain as an amazing positive place filled with glossy
celebrities, famous landmarks, polite well spoken people, mainly
white, mainly upper class (Love Actually / Notting Hill etc). British
audiences may see these and feel a sense of national pride.
American audiences may see these and be encouraged to visit here.
This could lead to disappointment (eg American tourists visiting
Notting Hill were amazed by the fact that it is a mainly black area,
something that was never shown in the film, and that the streets of
London were so grotty and grey compared to the film). Some films
tackle our sense of National Pride (This is England) and make us
question what it actually means to love our country and be proud of
it.

Destruction of Dominant Ideologies - Some films challenge the

dominant ideologies communicated by the ruling classes. Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning, Shameless and Kidulthood go against
the usual positive representations and show that Britiain is divided
and fragmented and people can and do live very poverty stricken
lives with very little happiness.

47

Destruction of stereotypes - Different representations create

stereotypes which can create misconceptions about groups of
people. For example, Kidulthood uses stereotypical violent, criminal
teenagers wearing hoodies and involved in gang culture which can
create fear of young people (moral panics). Alternatively some films
attempt to break stereotypes (for example Woody in This Is England
although may appear as part of a gang culture etc but he is also
kind and considerate and polite to adults and takes care of Shaun.
This may encourage audiences to question their stereotypical views
of young British people. Attack the block is a film which tries to
break the stereotype that all British youths are violent criminals with
no good qualities. It tries to explain their behaviour and change
audiences opinions.

Introduction of Moral Panics Some theorists believe that the

repeated use of these stereotypes in the media is often blown out of
proportion by media such as news. They think that they lead to
moral panics when society begins to demonise a particular group
based on the stereotypes they have seen in the media. For example
in the 70s punks were demonised as being the root of all youth
crime after the media created a moral panic about them. The
same could be said now of the situation with Muslims being
associated with terrorism and with British teenagers being
associated with crime. Theorist that could be used here =

Allows audiences to form their own identities Some

audiences will watch films and get a sense of their own identities
from them. They will sometimes get ideas about how to act or
behave from films (which could be a problem if they are watching
films like Kidulthood) or they could be reading the films in a different
way and learning from the mistakes of the characters in the films
and understanding that they should act in a different way. Some
sociologists argue that when people are labelled or stigmatised
by society, this creates a self fulfilling prophecy. This means that
teenagers who feel they have been labelled by society / the media
as hoodie wearing gang members and trouble makers, will be
default, end up acting this way as they believe everyone already
believes they are like that anyway. Theories that could be used here
=

Increased Cultural Homogenisation and decreased national

identity Some argue that the increasing Americanisation of our

48

media is leading to us losing our traditional British culture and is

increasing the cultural homogenisation of our country. Theory that
could be used there =

Increased / Decreased Class Divide Depends on the film they

see, but some films suggest that there is a massive class divide in
this country and that it is impossible for the two classes to coexist
happily. (eg Kidulthood, the middle class lady in the shoe shop
rejects the working class black teenager, the middle class girl gets
bullied until she commits suicide etc..)..

Increased discussion of social issues The effects of some

representations may be to trigger social reform and discussion. For
example, although Kidulthood portrays teenagers and gang culture,
they are represented in a very negative manner, clearly implying
that audiences should have a clearer awareness of their childrens
lives. That teens should not be part of gangs etc.. These films
serve as a social comment to affect change in our society.

Effects vary with the success of the film - Depends on the films
success as to which representations have the most effects on an
audience. A film that is hardly seen, only released on a small scale,
and has little in the way of marketing budget, will not have as much
social impact as a film like Love Actually which has hundreds of
millions of pounds in its budget, is shown internationally, is one of
the most commercially successful films of all time, and is shown on
television multiple times in many countries.

Things to bear in mind

Effects depend on if audiences are active / passive readers,

or if they take a preferred / negotiated / oppositional
reading Some audiences will blindly accept what they see on
screen, accepting the message that the director is trying to put
across, accepting the representations as realistic etc.. Some will
reject the representations entirely and some will find a middle
ground. This will have an effect on what the implications are of
each representations.. THEORIST YOU COULD USE HERE =

Effects depends on why the audience watches or consumes

the text Some audiences will learn from a film because that is the
purpose of the text and that is why someone has gone to see it..
Some audience members go to see films because they offer escape
and entertainment and a perfect world they can escape into

49

therefore know the representations are not realistic but dont really
mind. THEORIES YOU COULD USE HERE =

Effects depend on audience background The implications of a

representation depend entirely on who is viewing it. A white middle
class man would receive something in an entirely different way from
a working class, black woman. Depends on class, age, gender,
sexuality, nationality, regionality etc.. For example, a teenager from
South London who goes to a state school might see Kidulthood as an
exaggeration of teenager life (the same as Skins). A middle class
person might see it as realistic, confirming all their fears about
young people. THEORIST YOU COULD USE HERE:

Conclusion: There are a range of implications that arise from different

representations of British people. The effects of the representations vary
depending on a large number of factors. Many media outlets such as the
news, fail to see the positive effects of these representations. Instead of
seeing the sometimes obvious social messages created they choose to
report on these representations as though they were reality. For example,
the film Kidulthood was demonised by the media simply because it
featured a lot of youth crime. They failed to see that the purpose of the
film was to make a social comment about the negative effects of crime in
Britain.

50

To what extent is human identity increasingly

mediated?
This is a question that could come up and is one of the more complicated
questions. I would suggest only tackling this if you feel confident in your
use of media theory. Otherwise see if the alternative question on the
paper might be better for you.
Mediated means an exchange of ideas. So this question is asking you to
consider the following things:

Do audiences just passively accept the British identity they see on

screen
OR
Do they watch films and television programmes actively mediate
the identities they see (eg accept some ideas, reject others etc)

So here is table for you to add to:

Evidence that audiences are PASSIVE
and accept their identities from what
they see on screen
Propaganda some texts are used as
propaganda, to directly change the
identity of the audience

Evidence that audiences are ACTIVE

and mediate their identities from what
they see on screen

Examples:

Audiences are directly influenced by the

media they consume

Audiences are capable of rejecting or

negotiating these messages by taking
different readings

Theory:
Theory:
Theory 2:

Audiences use the media as a source of

identification and enjoy seeing texts
where they can recognise themselves

Audiences know that many texts are there

just as entertainment and escape and dont
expect them to be realistic

51

Examples:

Examples:

Theory:

Theory:

Some selective representations become

more popular than reality and form a
hyperreality that audiences accept as
more real

Audiences enjoy watching representations

of British identities that they do not identify
with as they can look down on people less
well off than they are etc

Examples:

Example:

Theory:

Theory:

The media operates on a supply and

demand basis. If audiences just blindly
accepted what they saw on television there
would never be a need for these
representations to evolve and change.
However, they ARE changing and this is due
to audience demand
Example:
Theory:

52

Examples we have looked at (in no particular order)

COMMERCIAL
EXAMPLES

SOCIAL REALIST
EXAMPLES

HYBRID
EXAMPLES

Mrs Miniver
Saturday Night
Sunday Morning
Outnumbered

Coronation Street
Shameless

Attack The Block

Misfits

Kidulthood

PhoneShop

Love Actually
Downton Abbey
My Family
Keeping Up
Appearances
Notting Hill

This Is England
Shank
Sket
Rising Damp

Little Britain
The Inbetweeners
Eden Lake
4,3,2,1

Only Fools and

Horses
Adulthood
Fish Tank
A Taste Of Honey
Top Boy
Clubbed

St Trinians

The Queen
The Kings Speech
Pride & Predjudice
The Royal Wedding
Mary Poppins

53

REGIONAL / SUB
CULTURE
EXAMPLES
Made In Chelsea
The Only Way Is
Essex
Desperate
Scousewives
Gavin & Stacey

THEORIES/ QUOTES we have looked at

Theories in green are ones you MUST use to get at least a D/E grade.
Theories in yellow are the ones you COULD use to get a B/C or higher
(dont need all of them!)
Theories in blue are the ones you COULD use to get an A/A* (Dont need
all of them!)
THEORY
FUNCTIONALISTS
Believe that the media has a useful and important purpose in peoples lives and
that we NEED it. For example:
They believe that it is important to feel as though you belong to a community and
to have a national identity. Durkheim believes it is very important to feel a sense of
national identity to keep a community going.
Blumler & Katz were functionalists that came up with the Uses & Gratifications
Theory which states that the media has different functions and uses for audiences.
They think that audiences need different types of media for information,
entertainment, escape, identification and social interaction
Richard dyers Utopian solutions theory
He believes that an audience will enjoy a text if it offers them a glimpse of a
utopian perfect life and if it offers them solutions to particular problems they
have. For example audiences suffering from boredom will need products offering
entertainment. Audiences suffering from isolation will seek out a text that offers
them a sense of community

MARXISTS
Believe that the media is used to deliberately manipulate an audience into
believing specific things. They think it is a BAD thing because they think we are
being duped. Believe that audiences are passive, and that we are manipulated and
the media affects our behaviour and our beliefs about what it is to be British.

Karl Marx believed that the ruling class dominates the working class. And they

54

believe that as the majority of film production companies are large, commercial
and run by ruling classes, they tend to perpetuate the dominant ideology to exert
hegemonic control over the working classes to create a false consciousness
where working class people are convinced that society is good and their lives are
fine the way they are.
The Marxist group the FRANKFURT SCHOOL came up with the idea of the
HYPODERMIC SYRINGE MODEL often also known as the MEDIA EFFECTS
THEORY. This is a theory which states that the media is like a needle injecting its
message into the audience and that all audiences get the same message. The
audience is powerless to resist this message and they are directly influenced by it.

NEO MARXISTS
Stuart Hall is a neo Marxist who believes that although the media TRIES to
manipulate and control audiences, audiences might NOT automatically believe or
accept what they see. He believes that audiences take either a preferred,
oppositional or negotiated reading of a text. He says the way people interpret the
media depends on their cultural background and personality
He believes that the more a specific representation is repeated in the media, the
more it becomes naturalised and it can lead to politically constructed
representations seeming like a common sense.

He also believes that the media tends to construct society rather than reflect it.
DANIEL CHANDLERS CAGE THEORY
He believes that our sense of identity is made up of 4 main aspects which he
nicknames the CAGE THEORY. This consists of Class, Age, Gender and Ethnicity.
He believes the medias portrayal of these 4 aspects affects how we feel about our
own identity

Also agrees with Stuart Hall and thinks that representations which become familiar
through constant re-use come to feel 'natural' and unmediated
PLURALISTS
Believe that media only reflects what audiences want and that if it didnt do this,
film companies would go out of business.

55

They admit that some representations are more common, but that this is just
because those beliefs already exist in society so films have to reflect them
POSTMODERNISTS
Believe that culture is so diverse now that class, gender, ethnicity and age dont
really define who we are. They dont think there is a big class divide (or any other
divide for that matter) and they believe that audiences are diverse and varied.
They dont believe that having a National Identity is possible anymore because
Britain is such a diverse place and we are now all so different.
Some postmodernists think that globalisation has led to us being Americanised
and not having any real sense of national identity. They think that all around the
world people are losing their sense of national identity because of this and that we
live in a state of cultural homogeneity where all the cultures are virtually the
same.
Baudrillard also thinks that in this day and age where we are bombarded with
media, we often start to accept media as reality without looking at the real world.
He thinks that we prefer the created version of reality as it is often more
glamourous and entertaining. He calls this a hyper-reality.
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORISTS (Tajfel and Turner)
They believe that there is intergroup discrimination where audiences enjoy
seeing representations of others, that make them feel that they as an audience are
better and of a higher status. They think that audience strive to see themselves as
successful and positive and actively seek out products that make them feel assured
of their own status.
STANLEY COHEN MORAL PANICS
He believed that occasionally in society there would be panics where the majority
of people would be utterly convinced that certain groups in society were going to
disrupt society and cause problems. For example he believes that after 9/11 there
was a moral panic involving muslims where ALL muslims were seen as terrorists.
He believes that the media often starts these moral panics and makes them worse.
DAVID GAUNTLETT
Thinks the idea that the media affects the way we behave is rubbish. He studies
the Frankfurt schools Media Effects theory and contradicts all of its ideas. He thinks
we:
Shouldnt blame the media for issues that already exist in society

56

Shouldnt assume the audiences is passive and naive

Shouldnt believe the Frankfurt Schools research as it was conducted in an artificial
way and theres no real way we could ever find out the real effect media has on
society
Shouldnt assume that there will only be negative results from consuming a media
text. Sometimes a media text that contains negative issues has a positive
repercussion on the audience
Believes that we use the media as navigation points for developing our own
identities.
Believes that the media disseminates a huge number of messages about identity
and acceptable forms of self-expression, gender, sexuality and lifestyle.
JACQUES LACAN MIRROR STAGE THEORY
Lacan carried out research with children and animals using mirrors and discovered
that humans reach an age where they are able to recognise their own reflection
and that people were able to develop a sense of their own self by examining their
reflections
Samantha Lay
She thinks that Film is by and large a commercial medium rather than an
educational tool
Marshall McLuhan
All media exists to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values.
Walt Disney
Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm
of entertainment towards the ideals and objectives of normal adulthood.
Kathryn Woodward
Identities are produced, consumed and regulated within culture creating
meanings through symbolic systems of representation about the identity positions
which we
might adopt
www.newinfluencer.com
Mass media plays a significant role in the transmission and maintenance of cultural
identity, through a repetitive display of cultural norms and values which eventually
become seen as simple truths
Gary Giddens
Believes that mediated experiences make us reflect upon and rethink our own selfnarrative in relation to others.

57

58

GLOSSARY OF KEY WORDS

Add in any other words you have learned
TERMINOLOGY
A/A* words (all of the below, PLUS these ones)
Hegemony The dominance of the ruling class over the working classes
Marginalisation when a group of people are made to seem less important than another
Cultural Homogenisation the process by which culture becomes less unique and becomes
more like other cultures
Verisimilitude the realness of something, how truthful it is
Iconography images that mean something or represent something. Eg films show British
cultural iconography such as black taxis, red buses etc

B/C words (all of the below, PLUS these ones)

Dominant Ideology The commonly held belief within a society about something.
Mediation an exchange of ideas between the film makers and the audiences
Selective Construction a representation that has been chosen specifically to communicate
something, deliberately choosing some aspects and leaving out others.
Propaganda a representation that has been designed to specifically influence an audience,
normally to communicate a political message to an audience
False Consciousness A state of mind that audiences sometimes are in where they are not in
touch with reality.
Demographic specific section of audience eg young, british male working class audiences
Polarised nation a country that has two extreme opposites of society that do not mix, and
often clash

59

Binary Opposites two very opposite things eg black / white or upper class / working class
Social Gulf A large gap between groups in society
Americanisation the increasing influence of American culture on other cultures
Globalisation the increased global connections between cultures around the world leading to
less individual cultures and instead having one large culture across the globe
Aspirational Something that makes people aspire or want to be better or different than
they are. For example, escapist films are seen as aspirational as audiences want to live like
the main characters

D/E words
Identity the elements that make up who we are
Culture shared identities, values and beliefs between members of the same community
National Identity shared feelings of identity between people from the same country
Representation the way something is shown
Social Realism a style of film marking which is designed to be realistic and gritty, often
centred around the working classes
Mainstream something that is considered to be popular
Mass-market something that is considered to be popular
Niche something that is considered to be popular only to a small number of people or a
certain type of person
Commercial something that is popular, and makes profit
Target Audience the type of people who the programme or film is made for
60

Working class people who work for a living, who earn a limited amount of money, often in
manual labour jobs
Middle Class people who may or may not work for a living, who earn what is generally
considered to be enough money to be comfortable, often in more senior jobs such as doctors
or teachers
Upper class people who may not need to work for a living, who earn a high amount of money,
who have senior positions in society eg MPs, lords, ladies, kings etc
Underclass people who are considered lower than working class, may be unemployed,
students, pensioners, on benefits
Escape to leave reality and be in a fantasy world
Entertainment something designed to entertain, amuse and interest people
Identification the ability for people to recognise their own lives in a text
Film Industry everything that is part of the businesses that make films eg film companies,
audiences, directors, cinemas etc.. The film industry revolves around making money
Film Institutions Companies that make films
Realistic something that is truthful or real
Unrealistic something that is not truthful or real
Fictional something that is made up, not based on reality

61

Questions to practise with

Section A part 1 development of skills
Discuss the development of your research and planning skills from AS to
A2
Explain how your post production skills have developed from AS to A2 and
how this has impacted on your creativity
Evaluate how your creativity has developed and impacted your production
work
Explain how you have developed your use of real media conventions /
texts over the two year course
Analyse how your research and planning over the two year course had an
impact on your use of real media conventions
Discuss how your post production skills developed over time
Explain how you have developed your skills in the use of digital
technology over the two year course

Section A part 2 Analysing one production

Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily
make sense of narratives. Explain how you used conventional and / or
experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces
Analyse representation of a social group in ONE of your media productions
Analyse ONE of your media productions in relation to genre.
Apply theories of narrative to ONE of your coursework productions
Media Language is designed to communicate specific ideas. Analyse the
communication of ideas in ONE of your productions in relation to media
language
Media texts often contain worn out stereotypes. Discuss how you
represented social groups in one of your productions.
Robert Stam says that genre is increasingly hard to define. Discuss genre
in one of your productions.

62

Audiences are incredibly important in the formation of any media text.

Analyse one of your productions in terms of audience.
Explain how you have represented particular characters within one of your
productions

Section B Collective Identity

How do the modern media represent a collective group you have studies?
The representation of collective Identity is becoming increasingly
complicated. Discuss.
A collective, unified British identity in the media no longer exists. How far
do you agree?
Explain how the representation of collective Identity has changed over
time.
Discuss the effects of representations of social groups on audiences
Audiences passively absorb their sense of British Identity from the Media.
Discuss.
The media constructs rather than reflects British Identity. How far do you
agree with this statement?
Representations of collective identities are simple - do you agree?
What are the social implications of particular representations of collective
groups?
Audiences are becoming increasingly active in the way they consume
representations of collective identity. Discuss.
The representations of Collective Identities within the media has stayed
mostly the same over the years. Do you agree?

63

LEVEL
/
GRAD
E
16-20

MARK SCHEME - EXPLANATION

ARGUMENT
APPLICATION OF
USE OF MEDIA
LEARNING FOR
THEORIES
ARGUMENT

AND
KNOWLEDGE OF
MEDIA
INDUSTRIES,
AUDIENCES AND
TEXTS
Clear fluent
knowledge of media
industries,
audiences and texts

PERSONAL
ENGAGEME

Clear attemp
personal
engagement
issues and
debates
Very basic
personal
engagement
issues and
debates
No personal
engagement
issues and
debates

Excellent adaptation
of learning for the
specific question.
Arguments are
coherent and
relevant
Good adaptation of
learning for specific
question.

Clear fluent use

of media theories

Sensible, mostly
clear use of
media theories

Sensible, mostly
clear knowledge of
media industries,
audiences and texts

8-11

Limited ability to
adapt learning to
specific question

Partially coherent
and / or basic use
of media theories

0-7

Answer may lack

relevance to the
question and may
be incoherent.

Inaccurate or
little use of media
theory

Partially coherent
and / or basic
knowledge of media
industries,
audiences and texts
Inaccurate or little
knowledge of media
industries,
audiences and texts

12-15

64

Clear person
engagement
issues and
debates

LEVEL
/
GRAD
E
16-20

12-15

8-11

0-7

MARK SCHEME - EXAMPLES

USE OF
HISTORY AND
EXAMPLES
FUTURE OF
BRITISH
IDENTITY
Examples of
History and the
theories, texts and
future of British
industry knowledge identity are
are clearly
discussed with
connected and form conviction in a
an excellent
fluent manner
argument
Examples of
History and the
theories, texts and
future of British
industry knowledge identity are
are connected
mentioned with
together in places
some relevance
to form a clear
argument
Some examples of
Discussion of the
theories, texts and
history and the
industry knowledge future of British
have been included identity is
and the student
mentioned in a
tries to connect
limited way
them
Very few examples
Inclusion of the
or a narrow range of history and the
examples of
future of British
theories, texts and
identity may be
industry knowledge missing
is offered

65

MARK SCHEME TERMINOLOGY & STRUCTURE

LEVEL /
GRADE

8-10

6-7

4-5

0-3

USE OF THEORY
AND
THEORETICAL
TERMINOLOGY
All ideas are linked
to contemporary
media theory and
there is an
excellent use of
appropriate
theoretical
terminology
Most ideas are
linked to
contemporary
media theories and
there is a good use
of appropriate
theoretical
terminology
Some
contemporary
media theory used
and some basic
theoretical
terminology
Media theory and
theoretical
terminology is
absent or minimal

IDEAS AND
STRUCTURE

SPELLING, GRAMMA
AND PRESENTATION

Complex issues have

been expressed clearly
and fluently. Sentences
and paragraphs have
been well structured
using appropriate
terminology. Arguments
are consistently relevant.
Straightforward ideas
have been expressed
with some clarity and
fluency. Arguments are
generally relevant but
may stray from the point
of the question.

There may be few, if an

errors of spelling,
punctuation and gramm

Some simple ideas have

been expressed in an
appropriate context

There are likely to be s

errors of spelling, gram
and punctuation, some
which may be noticeab
and could make meani
unclear.
There will be some erro
of spelling, punctuation
and grammar which ar
likely to be intrusive an
make meaning unclear
Writing may be illegible

Some simple ideas have

been expressed

Now add together your marks for each

section to find your approximate grade
TOTAL
MARK
40-50

ROUGH
GRADE
A

66

There will be some erro

of spelling, grammar o
punctuation, but these
likely to be minimal an
unlikely to make mean
unclear.

35-39
30-34
25-29
21-24
0-20

B
C
D
E
U

67

Total Mark

Grade

40-50

35-39
Total Mark
30-34
40-50
25-29
35-39
21-24
30-34
0-20
25-29

B
Grade
C
A
D
B
E
C
U
D

21-24

0-20