Exemplar answers - Tasks 1 and 3

The key to preparing for this exam is to make sure you can answer each style of question in 20 minutes. For typical Task 1 and Task 3 questions, this means writing three well-developed paragraphs full of examples from music magazines and websites. Here are some exemplar answers to help you:

Task 1 - distinctive voice

Task 1 - comparing print and online

Task 3 - making money

Task 3 - interactivity

Use these to make sure you are fully prepared for whatever question might come up - we don't know what will be in the paper! You should also complete all the practice questions in the revision booklet, giving yourself 20 minutes for each one.

Good luck!

Exam preparation

You should all now be well on your way to preparing for the Music Press (Print and Online) GCSE Media exam on Thursday 6 June (PM).

The most important thing to be doing is working through the whole revision booklet and creating a detailed proposal for your Rhymix website page. Designing website pages on A3 paper will also be very helpful.

I'll be posting up some exemplar answers and other tips here so keep an eye out.

Good luck!

Assignment 3 - Evaluation guidance

Evaluate your video production

Word count: 800 words (10 marks)

Optional essay plan

You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective.

Introduction (100 words)

• Introduce your brief and who you worked with (if applicable).
• Give a brief introduction to your TV programme: what is it about? What other programmes were you inspired by or did you watch as part of your research? On which channel, day and time would your programme be shown? How does your programme suit the style and audience of the institution?

Target audience (100 words)

• Outline your target audience (using detailed audience demographics: gender, age, social class, education or employment etc.)
• What Psychographic or Youth Facts groups (Armchair Rebels, Free Sprits etc.) do your target audience belong to? Why did you choose these in particular?

Close textual analysis of production (300 words)

• How does your TV show opening meet the key conventions of teen drama?
• Choose three or four key moments from your TV show opening and complete a detailed textual analysis justifying your creative decisions and explaining what the camerawork, editing, sound or mise-en-scene communicate to the audience.
• Explore the strengths and weaknesses of the key moments you have analysed and how you could have made the production more professional.

Representation (100 words)

• What representation of young people did you create in your production work? Was it a stereotypically negative representation of teenagers? (E.g. violent, involved in bad behaviour or crime etc.)
• Did you try to create a certain representation of young people? (E.g. positive, negative, shocking etc.) How would your target audience respond to your representation of young people?
• Did you create particular representations of any other groups in your production? (Men, women, age, race or ethnicity etc.)

Regulation and control (100 words)

• How did you make sure your TV programme could be shown before the watershed?
• How did you use your knowledge of Ofcom and the Broadcasting Code to ensure your TV programme didn’t cause offense? Was there anything you decided to leave out for these reasons?

Overall effectiveness/conclusion (100 words)

• How effective was your production overall?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of your project as a whole?
• Did you meet your brief?

Mark scheme:

Level 6 (9-10 marks)

They evaluate their products making cogent and critical connections between the experience of carrying out the production and all the key concepts. Evaluation responses are communicated using accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

KEYWORDS and CONCEPTS to use in your Evaluation:

Genre: hybrid, sub-genre etc.

Representation: of people/places/events; stereotypes, negative/positive representations.

Connotation: of colour, fonts, logos, institutional name and graphic, mise-en-scene, camera shots, camera movement etc.

Mise-en-scene: use of costume, lighting, actors, makeup, props, setting, (and what all these tell us about the characters/narrative).

Iconography: how does your TV opening use the iconography associated with the genre (e.g. character types, setting, props etc.)?

Institution: Who produces the drama? What channel broadcasts the drama?  What expectations will the audience have as a result?  Is the producer/channel famous for broadcasting any other popular teen dramas?  How will this attract a teen (or possibly wider) audience?

Target Audience and demographics: age, gender, social class (and how you know), audience theory (uses and gratifications).

Regulation and Control: watershed, Ofcom, Broadcasting Code, offensive content, protecting young people.

Show title and Tagline/Slogan: how are the titles and/or taglines used to anchor meaning and help you understand what the drama is all about?

Useful phrases to use when analysing or evaluating:

• This tells the audience...
• This could signify...
• A possible interpretation of this is...
• The audience could infer that...
• This shows the audience...
• The objective of this shot was…
• This suggests to the audience...
• From this, the audience will understand that...
• This connotes...
• This is significant because...
• This creates...
• This emphasises...

Existing product research

For your existing product research, you need to complete the following:

Research a minimum of five TV programme openings (aimed at a teenage audience).

Watch around two minutes for each show. If you can find the beginning of season 1, episode 1 for any programme that will be particularly helpful. YouTube is an obvious place to start to find clips but Art of the Title is also a brilliant resource to watch iconic film and TV opening sequences.

For each clip, you need to focus your research and analysis on a particular area:


Clip 1: NCIS analysis
Clip 2: Camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene analysis
Clip 3: Target audience analysis
Clip 4: Representation of young people analysis
Clip 5: General/combination of the above

Remember: your research is individual. You need to complete all of your research independently of your group.

Assignment 3 - initial tasks

You should now have a good idea about who you working with for Assignment 3 and what kind of TV programme opening you plan to make. The first stage of the project is Research and Planning and is worth 15 marks. You'll need to complete the following over the next two weeks:


- Research into similar products (annotated screengrabs from existing TV opening scenes aimed at teenagers
- Research into your target audience, which must include audience research (interviews, focus groups or questionnaires)
- Clear organisation of project schedule and mise-en-scene: casting, costumes, props, lighting and locations.
- Clear drafting: script, storyboard and shot list.
- Note: Research and planning is entirely individual and no more than 12 pages of research and planning can be submitted.

Initial tasks

In today's lesson you need to complete the following three tasks:

Task 1: Start your production blog

This will help you keep a record of all the work you have completed. Your first blog post needs to cover the following:

1. What your initial thoughts are about the brief: what kind of TV programme do you plan to make?
2. Who you plan to work with
3. What you hope to achieve in this assignment

Task 2: Planning your planning

Make a list of all the research and planning work you need to do for your project. Remember: this is individual. Example:

1. Research existing TV programme openings
2. Decide on target audience and design audience profile
3. Design and use audience research questionnaires
4. Write script...

Task 3: Project schedule

Produce a project schedule for the next seven weeks. You need to be organised and make sure you complete every part of the project: Research & planning, filming, editing and evaluation. The Excel spreadsheet template is on the VLE in Media Studies > Shared documents.

Example Institutional Information (for Analytical Task)

1. Research your film’s production company (i.e Warner Brothers, Paramount etc)

2. Explain how the institution has an impact on the promotion of your film (genre, budget, stars, etc)

Example paragraphs:

Shutter Island was produced by Paramount Pictures (they also produced The Lovely Bones, Iron Man 2, How To Train Your Dragon, Paranormal Activity). Paramount Pictures are part of a larger conglomerate called the Paramount Motion Pictures Group (World’s oldest film studio and a subsidiary of Viacom). They are a mainstream company appealing to the mass public with popular genres, well-known stars and big budgets.

Paramount Pictures promoted Shutter Island mainly through posters, trailers and the website. However the biggest reason for its success has been linked to its TV advertising campaign. Trailers we shown during the US Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. The exposure the movie got with its advertising campaign during the popular Winter Olympics broadcasts was, according to The New York Times, a big reason for its success at the box-office in its opening weekend.

Assignment 2: Analytical task guidance

Analytical task: Compare the impact and effectiveness of two promotional methods used by one film.

Word count: 1,000-1,200 words (20 marks)

Optional essay plan
You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective.

Introduction (50 words)

• Introduce the question and how it will be answered.
• Explain what film you have chosen and briefly describe the poster and trailer. 
• Provide some institutional background to the film (you will need to research this on imdb.co.uk)

Institutional information/background information (150 words)

• What companies/films studios created and distributed the film?
• Who directed/acted in/produced the film? 
• What genre does your film belong to?

Close textual analysis of film poster (250 words)

• Analyse the film poster in detail, writing about the key conventions and explaining why they are effective.
• What is the film’s unique selling point (USP)? 
• How does the poster make the most of the film’s USP?

Close textual analysis of film trailer(250 words)

• What institutional information appears in the trailer and when?
• Choose a few key scenes or ‘rich moments’ from the trailer and write a detailed analysis of why the trailer is effective and what impact it has on the audience.
• Use the media theories we have learned, e.g. Barthes’s enigma and action codes; Todorov’s equilibrium etc. 
• Compare the similarities and differences between the trailer and the poster – what remains consistent between the two? What differences can you find – and why are they different?
• What examples of synergy can you find (links between different media texts)

Representation (250 words)

• Write a paragraph (or two) discussing the representation of different people, places or groups in the trailer and poster (e.g. representation of women, men, race or ethnicity, a country or place etc.) 

Overall effectiveness (150 words)

• How effective was the film promotion you have chosen? 
• Use financial figures from your research (box office takings, opening weekend, box office against original budget etc.) to evaluate how successful the film promotion was.

Personal response/conclusion (100 words)

• How effective do you feel the film promotion is? Which is more successful: the poster or the trailer – or do they complement one another?

Mark scheme:

Level 6 (17–20 marks)
Candidates produce convincing and effective analyses of media texts. Media terminology is used extensively and effectively. The nature and impact of media representation is explored convincingly. There is a convincing and clear understanding and appreciation of institutional aspects of media production. Responses, including the explanation, are cogent and well structured with precise and accurate use of language and arguments clearly supported by evidence.