1) Type up any feedback or comments from your paper in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).
Overall 51 (B)
Section A:
-need more reference to film language for media forms.
-examples from the clip.
Section B:
-Lack of focus on the question.
-Lack of organisation: practice planning and creating topic sentences.
2) Did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade in AS Media? If not, how many additional marks do you need across Section A and Section B to achieve your target grade?
I need 8 more marks to achieve an A.
3) Read through the mark scheme. Pay particular attention to pages 6-9 that have anticipated content for each of the questions in Section A. How many of these potential points did you make? Did you successfully answer the questions? The original question paper is here if that is useful.
q1-
-Contained setting – masculine work place and female domestic setting of the café
-Family as community and strength – the metro salvage workers against the world
-Link to other genres of soaps and sit coms which focus on the family
q2-
-Visually stylised – overhead, zooming camera promises spectacle and excitement
-Voiceover helps to orientate the new viewer
-Other editing techniques eg: reaction shots, cutaways, montage etc
q3-
-Regional identity – setting, emphasis on accents, characteristics of determination and toughness
- Community – people working together, idea of a second chance
-Representing marginalised groups: Importance of working class culture – scrap yard, focus on cash, clothes, make up, tea etc
q4-
-Humour– contrast between voiceover/soundtrack and images, repartee
-Recognisable character types for alignment and identification
-Suitable for family viewing – age range of characters/as family
4) Which was your strongest question in Section A? Why did you do better in that particular question?
In Media Representations, Media Forms and Media Audiences I got the same mark of 9.
5) Which was your weakest question in Section A? Again, try and identify why this happened. Did you misinterpret the question? Did you run out of time?
In the Media Institutions questions, I got an 8, making it my weakest question. I think this was because of timing issues.
6) Rewrite your answer for your weakest question in Section A. This should now be a detailed, three-paragraph, level-4 response.
How does the sequence reflect the BBC’s stated aims as a public service broadcaster to “inform, educate and entertain”?
The sequence we have been presented with perfectly reflects the stated aims that BBC claims to have. This series very clearly provides all the elements the mission statement claims. To begin, the genre itself is a 'docusoup'. This hybrid of genre supplies both entertainment and education. This is because the documentary and soap aspects of the television combine to provide insight into this group's livelihoods as well as entertaining audiences because they present comedic aspects of their lives/ relationships.
In terms of the informative part of their statement, this series does inform viewers in a myriad of ways. Firstly, it presents viewers with an alternative way of living that is not usually represented in most media texts. This enlightens them on the vast variety of groups present within society, even those who are often marginalised. This follows swiftly into education as audiences are being taught new information about the lifestyles these people lead that perhaps they are unlikely to have heard of before.
To elaborate further on the education aspect of the stated aims, the clip also introduces viewers to a different kind of dialect filled with colloquialisms, exclusive to this group of Northerners. This educates viewers on their working class culture as well as their valued norms and customs because we learn so much about their lifestyles.
Finally, this clip entertains viewers by provides them a 'pleasure' or in other words a use or gratification from Blumler and Katz theory. Audiences receive a sense of diversion. This is because the series revolves around other peoples lives, providing them with escapism from their own mundane routines. Moreover, a sense of personal relationships is also formed; the characters are all likeable and we can form a rapport with them. This also acts as entertainment as viewers enjoy these uses and gratifications. Furthermore, we could argue the comical aspect of this clip entertains viewers. Comedy is a typical way of entertaining audiences and within this clip, this worshippers effectively.
7) Now look at the mark scheme for Section B. Did you cover all three media platforms? Did you write about three different films in your essay? (If you missed out your independent case study this is clearly an area to revise for the real thing).
I did not write about all three media platforms well enough. I felt like my response lacked detail and didn't fully cover the platforms because of poor organisation.
8) Question focus in the most important factor for a top-level response. Did you use the key words in the question in every paragraph? Did each paragraph contain a topic sentence that used the key words from the question?
I feel like I lacked key words in section B entirely because of poor organisation.
9) Choose one paragraph from your Section B essay and re-write it to improve question focus, examples and written English if applicable. Make sure it is answering the question!
To begin, all of the films I have studied are lacking in their print work when promoting their productions. Although Ill Manors and Paddington made use of billboards and A Field in England used posters, the use of print is still very limited. This immediately suggests that all the film's marketing teams respectively took into account how print work is now often dismissed far more. Their target audience is far more likely to respond to other forms of advertising in comparison to print work, which is exactly why all my studied films put more effort into other forms of advertising. This is a perfect demonstration of how our new use in media has affected advertisers choices. They are conforming to their new use technology, and using it to their advantage.
10) Read the Examiner's Report in full. For each question in Section A, look at whether you included the things the Chief Examiner refers to in the stronger responses. Did any of the problems identified with some answers apply to you? Be specific.
q1-
'Sometimes there was an issue with students moving too far away from the idea of family, focusing instead on the mood and tone of the sequence.'
q2-
'which didn’t give precise examples'
q3-
'a slightly repetitive response'
q4-
'responses often barely making reference to the sequence itself.
11) Now look at the Examiner's Report for your chosen question in Section B. Did your response fit the stronger or weaker examples highlighted by the Chief Examiner? What could you have done differently to improve your mark for Section B?
It fit into the weaker example as it 'lacked question focus' and there was 'limited reference to ‘why’'.
12) Finally, identify three things you will do differently in the real exam in two weeks. These can refer to preparation, notetaking, Section A or Section B - it is up to you.
Section A
- more practice on media institution where I seem to struggle most.
- clearer recording of notes.
Section B
- A lot more practice, using practice papers, reading my notes on my case studies.
- More organisation
- More media terminology
- distinguishing between the 3 platforms, I tend to get confused.
