A2 EXAM GUIDE SECTION A

THE EXAM

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

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Your Production

2 compulsory questions worth 25 marks each = 50 marks in total

Section B: Contemporary Media Issues

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

SECTION A - THEORETICAL EVALUATION OF PRODUCTIONS

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

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

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

Digital Technology how your skills have progressed and how they helped
you in your productions
Throughout your essay you should try and give several examples of real occasions you
used these technologies. For example At AS we started to use Blogger to keep a record
of all our coursework. We had no real experience of blogging prior to this etc then at
A2 we developed our skills with blogger
This gave us more autonomy over our own work and helped us take more responsibility
for all the research and planning
Intro: Digital technologies have a had a massive influence on media production over the
last few years and since you started in Year 12 you have learned a massive amount about
how to use them and what the benefits are of using them. They in turn have had a massive
impact on the quality of your finished products.
Development with Adobe Premiere 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 / twitter / whatsapp etc
You Tube Allows you to communicate with a far wider network of people than other
websites. Allowed you to research existing opening sequences and music videos.. you
uploaded your opening sequences and used the feedback / comments that people posted to
help you improve when it came to your A2 productions etc.. Enabled you to post your own
video to a massive audience. Be specific Give example of real video you looked at, real
comment you got etc..
Digital Cameras Never used before. Struggled initially with holding steady shots, framing
etc.. But they allow instant playback, LCD screen, small, portable (in comparison to larger
older bulkier cameras) etc. Allowed you to film in small spaces, to easily travel all over
London to film, to film something and view it straight away to check if was ok. Now can
easily film a variety of shot types.
Photoshop/Fireworks (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 : slideshare, powtoon, pixl, Blogging, Prezzi,
Internet
Conclusion: Digital Technology has enabled you (a consumer of media) to become a
producer that can not only make a higher quality media product, but edit it and distribute it
to a wide audience..
To get A & B grades
To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not just DESCRIBING
how your skills developed. Instead you need to focus on the EVALUATE part. To EVALUATE
you could comment on any of the following throughout your work

HOW important digital technology was

WHY was digital technology important

WHAT EFFECT did digital technology have on your final work

WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without digital technology?

HOW did digital technology benefit you?

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

Technology
At AS we used Premiere Pro to

At A2 we used Premiere Pro in a different

way

At AS we used Facebook..

How it helped us

At A2 we used Facebook in a different way

At AS we used You Tube to..

At A2 we used You Tube in a different way

At AS we used Digital Cameras to

At A2 we used Digital Cameras in a different

way

At AS we used Photoshop to

At A2 we used Photoshop in a different way

Creativity - how your skills have progressed and how they helped you in your
productions
Intro - What IS Creativity DEFINE IT - It is the making of new things and the re-arranging
of the old. eg the ability to have your OWN ideas and not just copy other peoples. The
ability to do things that are unusual and different etc..
Where did your original ideas come from? How did you increase your ability to come up
with your own ideas? Did you mind map? Did you share ideas? Did you do creative types of
research eg not just questionnaires with people you knew, but using You Tube to get
comments from people around the world, etc. Give real, specific examples.
Locations / Sets / Costumes At first you chose locations that were near by and easy to
access (give example) Then at A2 you were more creative in your choices (give example)
Did you choose unusual ones? Did it take creative planning to adapt them? Be specific
What creative locations did you use? Why did using creative locations help your
production?
Camera At first your shots and filming were practical. You filmed a medium shot because
you hadnt considered doing anything else. In your prelim task at AS you had a set of
specific camera shots to include. For AS, your camera skills were quite basic. Now you have
developed so you started filming in a more creative way eg high / low angles, putting the
camera on the floor, in the fridge, using stop motion, green screening etc.. Be specific giving
real examples of creative camera shots you used and explain how they made your
production better
Editing At first you werent very creative. Editing was functional putting shots next to
shots to create some meaning for your AS opening sequence.. However you couldnt do that
at A2 as just having a narrative wasnt enough.. you needed to create energy and engage
the audience and edit to the flow of the music using effects etc ... be specific, give real
examples of creative editing you tried and explain what impact they had on your production
Genre / Conventions How have you developed your use of genre / conventions from just
copying conventions, to instead, being able to challenge and subvert conventions of genres.
Were you creative by combining genres?
Casting At AS you werent very creative in your casting.. Chose people who were friends
etc.. Then you became more creative at casting including sending out facebook messages,
holding auditions etc.. How were you creative in your casting? Be specific. What impact
did this have?
Photoshop - Never used before. When using Word / Publisher your creativity was stifled
because you are limited in how much you can edit the images. Photoshop allowed you to
manipulate images etc.. Be specific, give real examples of creative Photoshop work you did

Conclusion
Certain Restraints on your creativity in place from exam board - you HAD to make a music
video, digipak, poster etc.. These rules do limit your ability to be creative to a certain extent
Not easy to just be creative. You actually needed to do practical things like research,
paperwork, storyboards etc to ALLOW you to develop our creativity. Without solid research
and planning, being creative was impossible. You needed a balance of organised AND
creative people in a group to be successful.
You cant just BE creative. Often it is a learning process where you start by being told what
to do, then you try doing things on your own and then you end up being confident and
skilled enough to experiment which leads to creativity. You have to make mistakes at first
to be creative.

To get A & B grades

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

HOW important creativity was

WHY was creativity important

WHAT EFFECT did creativity have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with being creative?

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

HOW did creativity benefit you?

Creativity
At AS we were creative coming up with ideas
by

At A2 we were more creative coming up with

How it helped us

ideas by

At AS we were creative choosing locations

by..

At A2 we were more creative choosing

locations by

At AS we chose costumes by

At A2 we were more creative with our

costumes by

At AS we copied conventions of the genre for

example..

At A2 we were more creative with the

conventions for example..

At AS we used basic editing techniques such

as..

At A2 we were more creative with our editing

for example

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

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

HOW important research and planning was

WHY was research and planning important

WHAT EFFECT did research and planning have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with research and planning?

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

HOW did research and planning benefit you?

Research and Planning

At AS we used questionnaires to

At A2 we improved our use of questionnaires

by

How it helped us

At AS we used focus groups to

At A2 we improved our use of focus groups

by

At AS we examined real opening sequences

such as / in order to

At A2 we improved our research / analysis of

real texts by

At AS we used storyboards for

At A2 we improved our use of storyboards

by

At AS we completed a prelim tasks to..

At A2 we improved the way we used the

prelim task by

Post Production - how your skills have progressed and how they helped you
in your productions
Intro: You have gone from knowing virtually nothing about post production to now being
able to complete complex editing of video, sound and graphics..
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. 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
Live Type used to use the Final Cut text, now Live Type. Whats the difference? It has
more functions and potential to create moving text. Why was this useful?
Photoshop (you used to use Word and Powerpoint etc) At A2 Photoshop allows
manipulation of images, effects, colours, cropping, layering images and words - How did
this change the footage that you had? Be specific with real effects you tried on Photoshop
You Tube / Redrafting / Peer Assessment At AS, you just uploaded your final version to
You Tube and left it there. At A2, after editing you uploaded your opening sequences you
used the feedback / comments that people posted to help you improve it further and make
multiple improvements.. be specific with real comments you got and how this helped
your post production
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

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

HOW important post production skills were

WHY were post production skills important

WHAT EFFECT did post production skills have on your final work

What PROBLEMS are there with your post production skills?

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

HOW did post production skills benefit you?

Post production
At AS we used Final Cut Express / i-Movie to..

At A2 we improved our editing skills on Final

Cut by

At AS we used the basic text creator tool on

Final Cut to..

At A2 we improved our use text by

At AS we knew this about Photoshop

At A2 we improved our understanding of

How it helped us

Photoshop by

At AS we got feedback after the production

by..

At A2 we improved post production feedback

by

Use of Real media Conventions

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

Your genre - At AS, how did you identify what the conventions were of your film genre?
What videos did you watch and what were the conventions you found? How easy was it to
identify the conventions? Then show development by discussing A2 What did you do
differently to identify the conventions of the genre? Did you look at videos AND theory
(Andrew Goodwin / Laura Mulvey)? This was likely to be a lot harder as music videos often
belong to 2 or more genres and many genres of music have very few semantic elements
(eg visual conventions). Discuss some videos you watched and identify what you thought
the main conventions of your genre were. How did using media theory to identify
conventions help you at A2?
Camera At AS, what camera shots / movements did you use that are conventional of
horror films? For A2, give an example of how you used conventional camera work for music
videos in your video. At A2, your camera work may have been more about being creative.
Explain how you pushed the boundaries with your camera work at A2? What did you do
differently?
Mise-En-Scene At AS, what mise-en-scene did you use that was conventional of horror
films? (costumes, locations, colours etc) and what effect might these have had on the
audience? At A2, give some examples of mise-en-scene you chose that was conventional of
your genre. You could discuss how at A2 your mise-en-scene was likely to be more creative
because of how you have developed your sense of how elements can communicate
meaning to an audience. Where as AS was about what was convenient and easy, at A2, you
deliberately chose locations and costumes that were more planned to signify a meaning,
more creative etc. Give an example of how you pushed yourself with your mise-en-scene
at A2? What did you do differently?
Editing At AS, what editing techniques did you use that were conventional of horror films?
(cuts, dissolves, flash to white, wipes, colour grading, other effects etc) and say why you
used them. At A2, give some examples of editing you chose that was conventional of your
genre. You could discuss how at A2 your editing HAD to be more creative as when you
researched videos (give example) you discovered that most videos have fast paced shots
lasting less than 3 seconds which meant your editing had to be faster, more visually
interesting (to engage an audience instantly) etc. Give an example of how you pushed
yourself with your editing at A2? What did you do differently?
Sound At AS, what sound techniques did you use that were conventional of horror films?
(diegetic, non diegetic, sound effects, sound bridges, soundtrack, dialogue etc) and say why
you used them. At A2, you were very restricted with your use of sound as most of you just
used whatever came on the music track itself. However this forced you to become more
creative. If you did add sound / dialogue on, then give an example of where you did this and
why. If you did, you could explain how actually, not being able to manipulate or cut the
sound made the process more difficult as you had to ensure all the miming of the lyrics

complete matched, at the right pace etc. Give example of how you did this or problems you
encountered and how you solved them. ]
Conclusion At AS, you were still learning about the concept of genre, and felt as though
conventions were very much easily identifiable and set in stone. Many of you ensured that
you followed lots of your genres conventions in your AS work. However by the time you
reached A2, you learned that genre is much more of a fluid concept, less easy to define,
especially within music, and this led to you being confident enough to both follow and
challenge conventions of your genre, pushing the boundaries throughout which impacted
your creativity.

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

Genre
Narrative
Representation
Audience
Media Language

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

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

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

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

How to get A&B Grades

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

MUSIC VIDEO GENRE

THEORIES

GENERAL GENRE THEORIES

Steve Neale thinks that film genres are

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

Andrew Goodwin Thinks

that music videos follow the
following conventions:
Conventions depend on
the genre of the music

Robert Stam suggests genre is hard to

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

The form finding itself (Psycho)

The classic (Halloween)
Stretching the boundaries of the
genre (Nightmare on Elm Street)

Star persona is important

and companies use close
ups to sell them to the

Rick Altman says that the way we define

 Parody (Scary Movie)

Homage (Scream)

audience
Voyeuristic images are
used to attract an
audience
They often contain
intertextual references to
other media
There is a link between the
lyrics and the visuals
There is a link between the
visuals and the music /
pace etc

a genre is by two main things:

Semantic Elements (eg signs such as
knives, blood, dark colours, eerie
music). He thinks these elements
are easier for audiences to recognise
and identify
Syntactic elements (includes
THEMES such as fear, revenge, rage
as well as plots such as PLOTS such
as group go on trip, one by one they
die, last girl survives and kills killer)
He thinks these elements are more
subtle and harder to recognise.
Identify semantic and syntactic
elements in your video that might help
audiences identify the genre of your
film / music video

Laura Mulvey - Suggests that women in

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

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

Camera

Editing

Sound

Mise-en-scene

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

To get A&B grades

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

How I will apply it to my text

Blumler & katz Think that audiences want

media products that gratify particular needs
(Uses & gratifications) eg escape, entertainment
etc

Frankfurt School Hypodermic needle theory.

Think audiences might be directly influenced by
media products

Stuart Hall Encoding and Decoding tests AND

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

Pluralists think that the media operates on a

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

Tajfel & Turner intergroup discrimination

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

Andrew Goodwin believes that audiences are

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

Laura Mulvey believes the media texts often

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

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
Camera shots:

Mise-En-Scene:

How it represents that character

Editing:

Sound:

To get A&B grades

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

Theory What to write about

Levi Strauss

said that media texts often represent characters in terms of binary

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

Laura Mulvey

Believes that women are often objectified in the media. She says
they are looked at with a male gaze and are seen as sex objects.
She also believes that there are all too often only two roles for
women in the media. Either the virgin character or the whore

character. This is called the virgin / whore dichotomy.

Can their theories be applied to your video? Did you conform to
their ideas of representation or challenge them? Why?

Vladimir Propp

Propps theory of narrative suggests that texts often represent

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

Hero
Villain
Princess
Donor / Helper
Dispatcher

If you included any of these characters, how did you represent

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

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

Stanley Cohen

Believes that particular groups in society are demonised and

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

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
Camera:

Mise-En-Scene:

Editing:

What it signified about the narrative of my text

Sound:

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

Vladimir Propp

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

Propps theory of narrative suggests that texts NEED particular characters to

develop the narrative

Hero
Villain
Princess
Donor / Helper
Dispatcher

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

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

Allan Cameron

thinks there are several different types of more unusual narrative. If you included
any of these, explain where, and then explain why you included them.

Anachronic Narrative includes regular flashback and flashforwards, with

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

shown on screen at the same time.

MEDIA LANGUAGE - IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT MEDIA LANGUAGE

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

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

Sound diegetic and non-diegetic, sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, music,
voice over

Editing fades, cuts, wipes, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion, colour effects like
black & white, bad tv, stop motion animation, green screening and chroma key work

Mise En Scene costume, lighting, location, body language, acting, make up, props
etc

Conclusion: How well do you think you used media language to communicate meaning to an
audience?
Techniques I used
Camera:

Mise-En-Scene

What it signified to an audience

Editing:

Sound:

To get A&B Grades

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

Theory what to write about

Blumler & Katz / Richard

Dyer

Uses & Gratifications theory / Utopian Solutions explaining how your use
of MEDIA LANGUAGE offers these to an audience

Vladimir Propp

Propps Character theory how your MEDIA LANGUAGE helps audiences

identify particular characters as heros / villains etc

Stuart Hall

Explain that your decision to use the MEDIA LANGUAGE you chose was to
create a preferred reading for your text. But that audiences are used to
Encoding and Decoding tests AND could take a negotiated or oppositional
reading

Rick Altman

Explain how you used MEDIA LANGUAGE to include Semantic Elements

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