MS4: Past Questions with Examiner's Comments

SPECIMEN

A1: Explore the ways in which your chosen texts reinforce or challenge typical representations of gender.

Candidates’ response will be dependent on the industry selected. They may decide that the representations are typical or challenging or a mix of the two. This is acceptable. For higher grades candidates may be linking their responses to theoretical perspectives. Candidates may refer to some of the following points in their answer, depending on the media industry selected:

• character roles

• stereotypical, conventional or challenging representations

• theoretical perspectives which may include:

- gendered perspectives linked, for example, to Laura Mulvey

- post-feminist perspectives

- postmodern perspectives

- ideological perspectives: dominant v oppositional.

A2: How do your chosen texts use genre conventions?

Candidates may open their answers by outlining what they understand by genre conventions. Responses are likely to be based on how most media texts replicate, with some variation, standard conventions. Better answers will demonstrate some of the reasons for that approach (e.g., a balance between industry and audience interests) whilst the most sophisticated may consider the ideological implications of conforming to or challenging standard conventions.

B1: Outline the ways in which your selected industry is regulated. What impact has regulation had on your chosen texts?

Candidates’ responses will be largely dependent on the industry they have selected, but their answers are likely demonstrate an understanding of the relevant regulatory body (e.g. OFCOM, PCC, ASA, BBFC) and codes of practice. The impact that regulation has (or has not) had on the selected industry is likely to differ but points may include:

• subject matter

• content

• placement

• language/image used

• certification/guidance.

B2: Explore the impact of digital technologies on your selected industry.

The impact of technology on the industry will differ depending on the industry selected. Higher grade candidates are likely to be engaging with ‘explore’ whilst weaker candidates may simply list connections between technologies and the selected industry. Points may include reference to:

• the impact on the production of texts

• the impact of convergence – the way the internet, satellite and mobile communications systems have affected production, distribution and audiences/users, particularly the potential for users to become ‘participative producers’.

B3: How do your chosen texts attract their audiences?

It is likely that candidates will need to begin by explaining (defining) the target audience for the text/s. Candidates may refer to some of the following points in their answer, depending on the media industry selected:

• content: form and structure

• content: representations, characters

• mode of address

• placement/scheduling

• some references may be made to theories such as the uses and gratifications theory and to ways in which audiences are attracted to texts depending on the cultural positioning.

B4: Explore the marketing strategies used by your selected industry. Use the examples you have studied to illustrate your response.

Higher grade candidates are likely to discuss a range of strategies and may engage with an exploration of their effectiveness. Weaker candidates may simply list the strategies used by their selected industry. Depending on the industry selected the following points may occur.

• Use of television, film, print and radio advertising

• Market research and audience questioning

• References to theoretical frameworks such as those provided by Maslow, the 4 P’s,

Young and Rubicam

• Links to specialist agencies

• Use of technologies such as the internet and mobile phones/handsets

• Use of mail shots, freebies and special offers.

JUNE 2010

A1:  To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?

This question was a popular choice, especially for centres studying film, television and the music industry. Most candidates were happy to discuss the genre of their texts but quite a significant number did not engage with the 'how typical' part of the question.

A2: Explore the different representations of either women or ethnicity in your chosen texts.

The majority of candidates who responded to this question focused on the representation of women within their texts and there were some superb, well-informed responses. Some candidates studying the music industry used videos and lyrics as well as the 'star' themselves to very good effect and there were some great responses from candidates who studied computer games. Too many, however, simply described the female characters within their texts and were not able to deal with representation in any more than a superficial way. This was a little disappointing. A significant number also missed the 'explore the different' part of the question. Some candidates used ethnicity and a lot of these (mainly film, music and advertising) were very well done although there were some who confused ethnicity with nationality and discussed representations of British and American people.

B1: How important is the internet to your selected industry? Refer to your chosen texts in your answer.

Candidates came at this question from a number of different ways - the internet as a promotional tool, as an extension of the text, as something used by fans and the audience (for example). Those who combined all these ideas did very well indeed. Too many however ignored the 'how important' and to 'your industry' parts of the question and simply wrote about websites linked to their texts.

B2: How effectively is your selected industry regulated? Refer to your chosen texts in your answer.

Surprisingly this was the least popular choice of questions in Section B - although a number of candidates did respond to this question. Most answers demonstrated a good knowledge of the relevant regulatory bodies (though there was quite a bit of factual downloading - some candidates do need to be a little more selective!) and most candidates had a good idea of how regulation had impacted on their selected texts. Film, advertising, television and the games industry were the most popular choices here. Not all engaged with how effectively the industry was regulated but most had an opinion on whether regulation was 'fair' in relation to their texts. A few were not accurate or up to date in their discussions of regulatory bodies - I read one candidate who discussed the ITC in relation to television! Too many discussed Clearcast (advertising) as a regulator and not as an advisory body.

B3:  How successful have your chosen texts been for their industry?

There was a wide variety of responses to this question and every industry featured! There was a lot of personal opinion - points made without any evidence to support them (for example 'it was a popular game and sales went up') and too many candidates discussed the success of their particular texts without any reference to the industry. However there were some sophisticated responses which discussed the nature and measure of success and tied texts to industry and to audience - a joy to read.

B4: 'Most media texts target a range of different audiences'. How true is this for your chosen texts?

This was, perhaps, the least well answered question, mainly because too many candidates did not read 'target' but saw instead 'appeal', or who responded to alternative questions such as 'who are the target audiences for your texts' or even 'how did audiences respond to your chosen texts'. Of course, within these responses there were a number of valid points which candidates were rewarded for but too few were able to get into Level 4 with their responses. There was a tendency to reproduce information on possible target audiences for texts - described from a number of different perspectives - and (not always accurate) downloading of theory. The hypodermic syringe model, cultivation theory, copy cat theory, moral panics and a number of other theories tended to be reproduced with little sense of their validity or any real reference to the question.

JANUARY 2011

A1: Explore the key representations in your chosen texts.

This question was generally handled well but many candidates did not appear to concentrate on what were important representations in their chosen texts. Their discussion often did not seem to reflect why the chosen representations might have been ‘key’. Many considered examples of gender representation and tended to neglect other potentially key areas of representation within their selected texts.

A2: How do your chosen texts reinforce or challenge genre conventions?

There was a tendency for some candidates simply to discuss the genre codes and conventions of their selected texts (almost list -like at times) . Some candidates were able to approach the question adequately but only the best responses discussed the ways in which the chosen texts reinforced and/or challenged genre conventions and few were able to consider the ideological implications of challenging or reinforcing genre conventions.

B1: How have your chosen texts been constructed to appeal to their audiences?

Many candidates struggled with the question and discussed audience targeting (some discussing marketing) and audience responses. Only a minority of candidates discussed the way in which texts can be constructed – through, for example, their use of narrative, stars, technical and audio codes and mode of address - to create appeal for audiences.

B2: To what extent have your chosen texts been affected by regulation issues?

In some ways, this is a straightforward question because all media texts are affected by regulation. Some candidates responded quite well by outlining the key ways their texts are regulated but many responses did not really deal with the specific examples of regulation as they affected their chosen texts. Rather they discussed film certification in broad terms or made ‘sweeping’ generalisations about ‘child protection’ (for example) in relation to magazines and advertising.

B3: With reference to your selected industry, explore the ways in which your chosen texts are marketed and/or promoted.

The best responses to this question made specific, rather than generic, points about the marketing or promotion of their chosen texts. The majority of candidates only considered general aspects of marking – for example, that trailers were released prior to a film’s release. Much closer reference to the specific texts discussed is needed for this kind of question.

B4: What different pleasures do your chosen texts offer audiences?

Some candidates were able to link their responses to relevant theories – mainly referring to ‘Uses and gratifications’ – but the majority of responses tended to be broad and generic.

JUNE 2011

A1: How stereotypical are the representations of gender in your chosen texts?

This was a very popular question but in too many cases candidates were unable to distinguish between stereotyping and representation. Often, responses either confused representation and stereotyping or just listed representations or stereotypes within the text without discussing how typical they were. There were some superb responses however where candidates understood the distinction, understood why they were being used and could discuss underlying ideologies.

A2: How conventional is the narrative structure of your chosen texts?

Sadly far fewer candidates attempted this straightforward question. Many had clearly planned a genre question response and used that instead whilst others simply recounted the plot of their texts. However, the best responses linked appropriate theory to their texts and discussed the elements of conventionality (or lack of it) within them. Good responses made references to the following points as:

•       Plot structures and theories – e.g. Todorov, Propp – applied appropriately

•       Levi-Strauss - binary opposites

•       Narrative codes and how they are used to help structure a text– for example technical, audio, referential, action, enigma etc

B1: Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to your chosen texts.

Whilst some candidates wrote fluently about actual and theoretical responses to the texts they had studied, it was alarming how many candidates did not read the question properly and wrote about audience targeting. Others took this to be the regulation question they had rehearsed and wrote about regulators and how their texts had been regulated – allowing for only some marks. The best answers made reference to (some of) the following:

•       Responses being dependent on social positioning, demographic and psychographic profiles

•       Actual responses – e.g. fan sites, critics' reviews, audience/user forums

•       Links to preferred, dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings

•       Response may be dependent on the reasons for “using” it – links to Uses and Gratifications theory.

B2: To what extent is the success of your chosen texts dependent on stars and/or celebrities?

There were some very good responses to this question and it was good to see candidates thinking as they wrote and constructing quite coherent responses. Some candidates argued successfully that stars/celebrities were not important to (or did not feature in) their selected texts but offered other reasons for the success of their chosen texts.

B3: With reference to your selected industry, explore how far your chosen texts are global.

This was quite a broad question but it was not a popular one. Some candidates responded extremely well and were able to write about the content of their texts (e.g. setting, themes, actors/stars/celebrities) as well as the global ownership, distribution and audiences for their selected texts. However it was disappointing to see how few candidates knew anything about the context of their selected texts and too many made quite bland statements claiming their texts to be global without really understanding the term itself.

B4: Explore how your chosen texts use digital technology in their marketing.

This was a straightforward question – handled well by those candidates who read all of it! Too many missed the last three words and wrote about anything to do with digital technologies and their texts! Good responses made reference to (some of) the following points:

•       Trailers and adverts (use of special effects, digital editing)

•       Internet campaigns – websites, blogs, YouTube

•       Use of social networking sites – viral campaigns, different types of audiences

•       Smart phone apps and mobile adverts.

JANUARY 2012

A1: Explore the different representations of either men or age within your three main texts.

This was the more popular of the Section A questions with the majority of candidates responding using ‘men’. Many responses were well handled but, in general, too many basic points were made. For example: men are heroes followed by a basic description of why. A lot of candidates resorted to describing male characters, which resulted in over-simplified responses, and a significant number appeared to misquote Laura Mulvey and discussed a simple female gaze idea. Sound points included references to how different the representations discussed were and how those representations were constructed.

A2: How important are characters to the narrative of your three main texts?

Fewer candidates responded to this question and some answers were well handled with candidates really trying to tackle the how important part of the question. Many, however, simply described their characters and stated that there wouldn’t be a narrative without them or gave unapplied and descriptive explanations of narrative theories.

B1: Assess the main advantages of the internet for your three main texts.

This was a popular question but one that many candidates responded to by simply talking about the link between their text and the internet (often little more than that the text had a website followed by a description of it). Where candidates assessed the main advantages of the internet for their texts, they produced a more detailed and coherent response which enabled them to access higher levels. Many discussed the advantages of the internet for audiences rather than for the texts.

B2: With reference to your three main texts, discuss the key features of their distribution.

This question was not popular. It was disappointing to note that the majority of candidates appeared not to understand ‘distribution’ (a key bullet point in the specification) or how the texts they had studied had been distributed to audiences.

B3: Explore the different ways your three main texts attract their audiences.

This was another popular question and many candidates handled it well by discussing marketing and content. Many, however, did not focus on the word attract and instead discussed audience responses. Unfortunately, many attempted to link their answer to inappropriate audience theories.

B4: How global is the appeal of your three main texts?

The best candidates knew their texts well and could discuss where and how their texts had global appeal through points such as distribution and marketing, content (genre, narrative and themes), the use of stars and so on. It was perfectly feasible (and a few candidates did this well) to argue that texts did not have global appeal because of their very British nature/funding/distribution/scope etc. However, this question was misinterpreted by many candidates. Many wrote about audience appeal and missed out the ‘global’ part of the question altogether. Some linked their responses to theoretical frameworks such as Uses and Gratifications but could offer no factual evidence to suggest their texts had global appeal. A few misunderstood what was meant by global.

JUNE 2012

A1:                   Explore the different ways in which people are represented in your three main texts.

This was a very popular question. MS4 should build on the knowledge gained at MS1. Candidates should, by this stage, have a good understanding of representation as a concept. It was quite surprising, therefore, to see how many candidates could not define representation and reverted to describing the people within their selected texts rather than exploring how they had been represented. The best candidates were able to link notions of representation to genre and narrative (as appropriate) and were also able to discuss why people had been represented in the ways they had. Too many candidates simply discussed “negative” and “positive” representations in a very simplistic way – for example, Harry Potter is a conventional hero and therefore a positive representation whilst Voldermort is dressed in black and represented negatively as a villain. In a synoptic unit, this kind of basic discussion should be discouraged and candidates should be encouraged to develop ideas in a more sophisticated way.

A2:                  How typical are your three main texts of their genre?

Fewer candidates attempted this question but there were some very thorough and detailed responses to it. The best answers came from candidates who realised that the focus was on ‘how typical’ and who were often able to discuss with confidence the atypical aspects of their texts as well. Lower achieving candidates tended to list common conventions of the specified genre which were apparent within their selected texts, which did demonstrate some knowledge and was often done with confidence. Key points referred to were often focused on:

·       Key signifiers and iconography

·       Storylines and plots

·       Characters and their functions

·       Stars/celebrities

·       Use of camera, sound, editing

·       Structures, layouts and design techniques.

B1:                  Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts.

This was another popular question which was generally done quite well with some very good application and integration of theory emerging. A lot of candidates linked their responses (generally effectively) to the Uses and Gratifications theory and to notions of audience pleasures. Some candidates however had clearly prepared a ‘response’ answer and a significant minority of answers were dominated with a description of Hall’s ‘encoding:decoding’ theory and a discussion of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings. Rarely made relevant, this was a clear example of some candidates’ inability to adapt their knowledge to suit the demands of the question.

Some candidates also took this to be a marketing question (how were the texts made to appeal to their audiences) and therefore lost the focus of the question. Other candidates made good points which linked specifically to their selected texts and covered such areas as:

·       Genre – by reinforcing or challenging typical conventions

·       Narrative – through plot, content

·       Characters, stars, celebrities

·       Audience positioning

·       User involvement; interactivity

·       Key codes – visual, written, audio etc

·       Familiarity or a sense of ‘newness’.

B2:	Explore the impact of regulation on your three main texts.
	As in previous years, this kind of question based on regulation tended to attract some
	of the least successful responses.   A minority of candidates did not mention the
	regulator for their selected industry at all.   Others simply reproduced elements of the
	relevant regulator’s code and described, for example, the certification of their films or
	commented that their selected adverts were banned.   Some factual information was
	inaccurate: for example, that ASA owns OFCOM; that the BBC regulates all
	television; or that Casino Royale is a 12 rather than a 12A film.   Others appeared
	confused over the circumstances of BBFC decisions (e.g., relating to Clockwork
	Orange or Human Centipede 2) or to be unaware of, for example, the role of
	Clearcast in advertising regulation or the demise of the PCC.
	Very few candidates were able to address the ‘impact’ part of the question.
	Responses therefore tended either to be generalised or use examples which were
	outdated and not made relevant to their own texts.  The teaching of regulation does
	not necessarily need to be covered as separate topic area.   However, candidates
	need to concentrate on who the regulator for their selected industries is and how
	regulation has affected their selected texts.
B3:	How effectively were your three main texts marketed?
	This question elicited a mixture of responses.  There were some excellent answers
	which demonstrated quite detailed knowledge of a variety of marketing campaigns.
	These responses showed good industry knowledge and were often backed-up with
	accurate facts such as viewing figures, sales or box office successes.   Most notably
	well done were film, TV, magazine, game and music texts and, whilst some
	candidates produced sophisticated responses using advertising texts, others did
	struggle to address wider marketing concepts or contexts and just described their
	advertising texts.   There was, however, too little emphasis on the “effective” part of
	the question with less thoughtful candidates who had, for example, studied less well-
	known texts or low budget British films, simply arguing that the marketing was poor
	because they their texts were not well known.
B4:	‘The main function of a media text is to entertain its audience.’  How true is this
	for your three main texts?
	Almost all the candidates who responded to this question agreed with the statement
	even if their texts were newspapers, advertisements or other texts which clearly had
	different functions.   Very few candidates were able to discuss the possibility that texts
	might be constructed to make money or that they were there to inform or to shock
	audiences in order to gain a response.  Consequently very few candidates were able
	to access higher levels for this question.   There were, however, a number of valid
	responses, which made good points about their texts, with links to relevant theories.