G325 revision guide

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A2 CRITICAL
PERSPECTIVES
PAPER G325
REVISION
GUIDE

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THE EXAM
The A2 exam worth 25% of your final A-level grade and is made up of 2
separate sections
SectionA: Theoretical Evaluationof Your Production
 2 compulsory questions worth 25 marks each = 50 marks in total
Section B:Contemporary MediaIssues
 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 sureyou look for that on the exam
paper!

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SECTION A - THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF PRODUCTIONS
Question1
A question that requires students to describeand evaluate the development of
their skills over the courseof 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 chooseto discuss media products they havemade outside
of schoolduring these two years.
On the following pages is a detailed breakdown of things you could discuss for
each of the above5 topics.
The sections highlighted in green are the mostimportant to include if you get
that question

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Digital Technology – how your skills have progressedandhow they helped
you in your productions
Throughout youressay 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 overour 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 filma variety of shot types.
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 : Blogging, Prezzi, Internet

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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 How it helpedus
At AS we used Premier Pro to…
At A2 we used Premier Pro ina different
way…
At AS we usedFacebook…..
At A2 we usedFacebook in a different way…
At AS we usedYou Tube to…..

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At A2 we usedYou Tube ina different way…
At AS we usedDigital Cameras to…
At A2 we usedDigital Cameras ina different
way…
At AS we usedPhotoshopto
At A2 we used Photoshopin a different way…

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Creativity - how your skills have progressedandhow they helpedyouin 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 hadn’t 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 weren’t very creative. Editing was functional putting shots next to
shots to create some meaning for your AS opening sequence.. However you couldn’t do that
at A2 as just having a narrative wasn’t 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 weren’t 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

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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 can’t 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
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?
Creativity How it helpedus
At AS we were creative coming upwithideas
by…
At A2 we were more creative coming upwith
ideas by…

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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 withour
costumes by
At AS we copied conventions of the genre for
example..
At A2 we were more creative withthe
conventions for example..
At AS we usedbasic editing techniques such
as..
At A2 we were more creative withour editing
for example…

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Research&Planning - how your skills have progressedandhow 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 you’d achieved your goals. At the
beginning many people didn’t 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 / DVD’s 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 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 didn’t look right for the part etc.. Now you are able to cast the

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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 didn’t 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 hadn’t 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
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?
ResearchandPlanning How it helpedus
At AS we usedquestionnaires to…
At A2 we improvedour use of questionnaires
by…
At AS we usedfocus groups to…

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At A2 we improvedour use of focus groups
by…
At AS we examinedreal opening sequences
such as / in order to…
At A2 we improvedour research/analysis of
real texts by…
At AS we usedstoryboards for…
At A2 we improvedour use of storyboards
by…
At AS we completeda prelimtasks to..
At A2 we improvedthe way we usedthe
prelimtask by…

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Post Production - how your skills have progressedandhow they helpedyou
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..
Premier Pro/ Windows Movie Maker 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 Quick Time 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
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
After Effects – had zero experience. Some of you then learned how to use this in your own
time, practised effects etc.. discuss how this helped make your work better
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.
To get A & B grades
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?

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 HOW did post production skills benefit you?
Post production How it helpedus
At AS we used Premier Pro/ Windows Movie
Maker to..
At A2 we improvedour editing skills on
Premier Pro by…
At AS we usedthe basic text creator tool on
Premier Pro to..
At A2 we improvedour use text by…
At AS we knew this about Photoshop…
At A2 we improvedour understanding of
Photoshopby…
At AS we got feedback after the production
by..
At A2 we improvedpost productionfeedback
by…
Use of Real media Conventions
Conventions are the “common features” of a particular type of media or a particular genre.

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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 didn’t 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 filmgenre?
What videos did you watch and what were the conventions you found? How easy was it to
identify the conventions? 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

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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 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 genre’s 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 sensefor 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 moredetail 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 MUSICVIDEO GENRE
THEORIES
GENERAL GENRE THEORIES
Steve Neale thinksthatfilmgenresare
constantlychangingandevolvingand
are notset instone. He thinksthere
are 5 mainstagesinfilmgenres.
Whichstage doesyourfilmfitinto?
Explainwhy.
 The form findingitself (Psycho)
 The classic(Halloween)
 Stretchingthe boundariesof the
genre (Nightmare onElmStreet)
Andrew Goodwin –Thinks
that musicvideosfollow the
followingconventions:
 Conventionsdependon
the genre of the music
 Star personaisimportant
and companiesuse close
upsto sell themtothe
RobertStam – suggestsgenre ishard to
define,doesn’treallyexistandis justa
conceptmade up by theoristsandcritics.
Do youagree? Give examplesfromyour
workthat suggeststhatgenre eitherISor
ISN’Teasyto define
Rick Altmansaysthatthe waywe define

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 Parody(Scary Movie)
 Homage (Scream)
audience
 Voyeuristicimagesare
usedto attract an
audience
 Theyoftencontain
intertextualreferencesto
othermedia
 There isa linkbetweenthe
lyricsand the visuals
 There isa linkbetweenthe
visualsandthe music/
pace etc
a genre isby two mainthings:
 SemanticElements(egsignssuchas
knives,blood,darkcolours,eerie
music). He thinksthese elements
are easierforaudiencestorecognise
and identify
 Syntacticelements(includes
THEMES such as fear,revenge,rage
as well asplotssuchas PLOTSsuch
as group go ontrip,one by one they
die,lastgirl survivesandkillskiller)
He thinksthese elementsare more
subtle andharderto recognise.
Identifysemanticandsyntactic
elementsinyourvideothatmighthelp
audiencesidentifythe genre of your
film/musicvideo
Laura Mulvey - Suggeststhatwomenin
all mediaare objectified. She isa
feministwhobelievesthatwomenare
oftenshownthroughthe ideasof men
(male gaze) andare seeninvoyeuristic
ways. She alsothinksthat womenare
seeninone of eithertwowaysthe
“virgin”character or a “whore”
character. Thisis the “virgin/whore
dichotomy”

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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, don’t 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
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 How I will apply it to my text
Richard Dyer – thinks that audiences want media
products that offer them Utopian Solutions to
their problems

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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
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:
Editing:

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Sound:
To get A&B grades
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 Propp’s 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
 Villain
 Princess
 Donor / Helper
 Dispatcher

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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 DON’T 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:

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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
 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
Vladimir Propp Propp’s theory of narrative suggests that texts NEED particular characters to
develop the narrative
 Hero
 Villain
 Princess
 Donor / Helper
 Dispatcher

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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 DON’T 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.

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MEDIA LANGUAGE - IMPORTANTTO NOTETHAT “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 What it signified to an audience
Camera:
Mise-En-Scene
Editing:

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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 Propp’s 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).

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SECTION B – MEDIA AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY
Students will havea choice of two questions on this topic and will only have to
answer one.
The questions will be related to ONEof 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 compareto 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 chooseto study here is “British Youth” so all your
case studies will involve Youth in some way. Students MUST discuss case
studies fromTWO different types of media. Here we study Film AND
Television examples (Don’tforget we havelooked at newspapers too).
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 havelots 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.

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Youth in the Media
Youth is (and has mostly always been) represented in a negative way.
 In a commercial, positive way
 In a gritty, social realist, negative way
Social Realist Representations
Youth 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 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. Youth 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: Fish Tank, The Selfish Giant, Harry Brown
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: St Trinians, Eden Lake, Attack The Block, The Bling Ring
TV Examples: Misfits, Skins

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REASONS FOR THE DIFFERING REPRESENTATIONS OF YOUTH IN THE MEDIA
 FUNDING / PROFIT – Where the money has come from will affect the type of
representation they create. If a filmis 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 Leigh’s 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 youth or shows people as unhappy etc
 DIRECTOR’S 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 youth. For
example, Shane Meadows grew up in a very poor estate, his life badly affected by
the strikes and recession in the 80’s and he was involved in petty crime etc.
 DOMINANT IDEOLOGY OF THE RULING CLASS – Whatever the dominant ideologies
of the ruling class are will affect the way youth is shown at the time.

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 TARGET AUDIENCE – Depending on who the target audience is, the type of
representation of youth 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 1950’s were often used as propaganda
to show anxieties about the changes happening in society and so were positive and
showed strong communities that focused on the family unit. 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.

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How does contemporary representation compare to previous
time periods?
TIME PERIOD
FILM IS SET
SOCIAL REALIST COMMERCIAL
Youth
representations
of the future
Important to note: Changes in the way youth is represented are not JUST
explainable by changes in social / political zeitgeist. Changes might also 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.

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What are the social implications (effects) of different media
representations of Youth?
This question is basically asking you what the different effects could be of the different
representations of youth. 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.
 Destruction of Dominant Ideologies whereas the majority of youth representations
agree - Some films challenge the dominant ideologies communicated by the ruling
classes. Kidulthood conforms against the usual positive representations and show
that youth is divided and fragmented and people can and do live very poverty
stricken lives with very little happiness.
 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 audience’s 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 70’s 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 =

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 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 / 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 children’s 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 film’s 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 Rebel without a cause which had a large
budget and is shown internationally.

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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
therefore know the representations are not realistic but don’t 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
Youth. 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.

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To what extent is human identity increasingly mediated?
This is a question 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 Youth 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
Evidence that audiences are ACTIVE and mediate
their identities from what they see on screen
Propaganda – some texts are used as propaganda,
to directly change the identity of the audience
Examples:
Audiences are directly influenced by the media they
consume
Theory:
Theory 2:
Audiences are capable of rejecting or negotiating
these messages by taking different readings
Theory:
Audiences use the media as a source of
“identification” and enjoy seeing texts where they
can recognise themselves
Examples:
Theory:
Audiences know that many texts are there just as
entertainment and escape and don’t expect them to
be realistic
Examples:
Theory:

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Some selective representations become more
popular than reality and form a “hyperreality” that
audiences accept as more real
Examples:
Theory:
Audiences enjoy watching representations of youth
identities that they do not identify with as they can
“look down” on people that behave in a different way
etc
Example:
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:

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Examples we have looked at (in no particular order and add any I have missed)
FILM TV
Rebel without a cause SKINS
Fish tank Misfits
Precious Educating Essex/ Yorkshire
The Selfish Giant
Harry Brown (clips)
Eden Lake
If you are aware of any other case studies that represent youth
either contemporary or past you can include them.
Consider the role of vloggers and newspapers/ magazines and how
they are representing youth culture to as you need to be
considering a range of medias not just film and TV.

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THEORIES
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 (don’t need all of
them!)
Theories in blue are the ones you COULD use to get an A/A* (Don’t need all of them!)
THEORY
FUNCTIONALISTS
Believe that the media has a useful and important purpose in people’s lives and that we NEED it. For
example:
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 dyer’s 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 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.

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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 CHANDLER’S 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 media’s 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 didn’t do this, film companies would
go out of business.
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 don’t really define who we
are. They don’t think there is a big class divide (or any other divide for that matter) and they believe
that audiences are diverse and varied.
They don’t 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.

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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:
Shouldn’t blame the media for issues that already exist in society
Shouldn’t assume the audiences is passive and naive
Shouldn’t believe the Frankfurt School’s research as it was conducted in an artificial way and there’s no
real way we could ever find out the real effect media has on society
Shouldn’t 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

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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 self-narrative in relation
to others.”

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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
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

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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
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 MP’s, 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

47
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

48
Questions to practise with
SectionA part 1 – development of skills
Discuss the development of your research and planning skills fromAS 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
SectionA 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.

49
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
SectionB – CollectiveIdentity
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?

50
LEVEL /
GRADE
APPLICATION OF
LEARNING FOR
ARGUMENT
USE OF MEDIA
THEORIES
KNOWLEDGE OF MEDIA
INDUSTRIES, AUDIENCES
AND TEXTS
PERSONAL
ENGAGEMENT
16-20 Excellent adaptation of
learning for the specific
question. Arguments are
coherent and relevant
Clear fluent use of
media theories
Clear fluent knowledge
of media industries,
audiences and texts
Clear personal
engagement with
issues and debates
12-15 Good adaptation of
learning for specific
question.
Sensible, mostly clear
use of media theories
Sensible, mostly clear
knowledge of media
industries, audiences
and texts
Clear attempt at
personal engagement
with issues and
debates
8-11 Limited ability to adapt
learning to specific
question
Partially coherent and
/ or basic use of
media theories
Partially coherent and /
or basic knowledge of
media industries,
audiences and texts
Very basic personal
engagement with
issues and debates
0-7 Answer may lack
relevance to the
question and may be
incoherent.
Inaccurate or little use
of media theory
Inaccurate or little
knowledge of media
industries, audiences
and texts
No personal
engagement with
issues and debates
MARK SCHEME - EXPLANATION AND ARGUMENT

51
LEVEL /
GRADE
USE OF EXAMPLES HISTORY AND
FUTURE OF BRITISH
IDENTITY
16-20 Examples of theories,
texts and industry
knowledge are clearly
connected and form an
excellent argument
History and the future
of British identity are
discussed with
conviction in a fluent
manner
12-15 Examples of theories,
texts and industry
knowledge are
connected together in
places to form a clear
argument
History and the future
of British identity are
mentioned with some
relevance
8-11 Some examples of
theories, texts and
industry knowledge have
been included and the
student tries to connect
them
Discussion of the
history and the future
of British identity is
mentioned in a
limited way
0-7 Very few examples or a
narrow range of
examples of theories,
texts and industry
knowledge is offered
Inclusion of the
history and the future
of British identity may
be missing
MARK SCHEME –- EXAMPLES

52
Now add together your marks for each
section to find your approximate grade
TOTAL MARK ROUGH GRADE
40-50 A
35-39 B
30-34 C
25-29 D
21-24 E
0-20 U
LEVEL / GRADE USE OF THEORY AND
THEORETICAL
TERMINOLOGY
IDEAS AND STRUCTURE SPELLING, GRAMMAR AND
PRESENTATION
8-10 All ideas are linked to
contemporary media
theory and there is an
excellent use of
appropriate theoretical
terminology
Complex issues have been
expressed clearly and fluently.
Sentences and paragraphs
have been well structured
using appropriate terminology.
Arguments are consistently
relevant.
There may be few, if any errors
of spelling, punctuation and
grammar.
6-7 Most ideas are linked
to contemporary media
theories and there is a
good use of
appropriate theoretical
terminology
Straightforward ideas have
been expressed with some
clarity and fluency. Arguments
are generally relevant but may
stray from the point of the
question.
There will be some errors of
spelling, grammar or
punctuation, but these are likely
to be minimal and unlikely to
make meaning unclear.
4-5 Some contemporary
media theory used and
some basic theoretical
terminology
Some simple ideas have been
expressed in an appropriate
context
There are likely to be some errors
of spelling, grammar and
punctuation, some of which may
be noticeable and could make
meaning unclear.
0-3 Media theory and
theoretical terminology
is absent or minimal
Some simple ideas have been
expressed
There will be some errors of
spelling, punctuation and
grammar which are likely to be
intrusive and make meaning
unclear. Writing may be illegible.
MARK SCHEME – TERMINOLOGY & STRUCTURE

G325 revision guide

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G325 revision guide