Woman magazine: front cover analysis 2023 edition

This post combines two classes responses, so there's going to be repetition! However, please remember the repetition is revision! So get stuck in!

The generic conventions of the magazine, AKA: what makes magazines different from every other form of media?

• Masthead/name of the magazine, often in a bold and inviting font 
• Magazines are specific to one topic or subject 
• Lack of a conventional  narrative 
• A collection of varied information within a certain topic
• A big emphasis on high quality imagery 
• A glossy monthly can cost around £6 or even much higher
• Infrequent frequency. Magazines may be monthly, weekly, fortnight nightly, or biannual
• A business model based on subscription, where subscribers will often get significant discounts
• Audience varies wildly 
• Often more based on images as opposed to text 
• Many different genres, often appealing to very specific audiences 
• Often printed on high quality and/or glossy 
• Non-disposable media
• More freedom in production
• No set tone
• Wildly different audiences 
• Significantly higher price, that varies wildly 
• More infrequent frequency 
  
  

Quick theory revision: semiotics

• Proairetic code: anything which suggests that something is going to happen (action code)
• Symbolic code: anything which has a deeper meaning
• Hermeneutic code: anything which asks a question, creates a mystery, or suspense
• Referential code: anything which refers to something else, also known as intertextuality 

Woman Magazine: a few things to know

• Target audience: working class, middle aged, British women
• Publication date August 1964 sixty years ago!
• Genre: women’s lifestyle. Articles on housework, cleaning, housewife stuff, entertainment, makeup, dating (‘courting’), lifestyle tips
• A UK women’s lifestyle magazine. Topics covered in women’s lifestyle magazines include makeup, beauty, clothes, fashion, perfume, cooking, cleaning, gossip etc

Initial conclusion

• Conclusion: Woman Magazine presents a simple and straightforward and sexist message to its working class female target audience
  

Flicking through the magazine

Who is the VERY SPECIFIC target audience for this magazine? How do you know?

Appealing to British middle-aged housewives. A housewife is a stereotypical assumption of a woman that stays at home, and looks after children and completes other tasks such as cleaning. The target audience for this magazine is working class women, and we can understand this from the aspirational mode of address of the front cover. Focus on working in the kitchen, looking after children and basic beauty and makeup advice would all appeal to a working class aspirational audience. 

What stereotypical representations can you find?

Double page spread dedicated to beauty and makeup clearly reinforce beauty standards. This reinforces the idea of the male gaze, and suggests that this magazine was produced to meet the needs of a patriarchal society, and reinforces patriarchal hegemony. Lexis ‘these are things girls worry about’: the use of the word ‘girl’ reinforces an assumption that even adult women are ‘young’, niave and irresponsible, and implies women need easy and simple instruction

Who is not represented or is underrepresented in this magazine?

Very few men are represented, and there are absolutely no people of colour

What message is the producer of this magazine presenting to its audience?

To construct a hegemonic representation of women to outline and to reinforce the expectations that women face in society

Why might a woman in 1964 actually read this magazine?

Relatable content? The watercooler effect?

Are you bored of me yet?

Woman magazine front cover initial analysis

• The magazine’s masthead is large, bold, and in the style of calligraphy, with cursive, joined up writing. Appears to be handwritten
• The MES of the handwritten masthead has symbolic connotations of a personal style, which provides an inclusive mode of address for it’s target audience. This reinforces the stereotypical assumption than women are soft and gentle creatures, who must be protected
• The purple background has symbolic connotations of stereotypical femininity. It is bright, and has a high impact mode of address on it’s target audience, that allows the magazine to be competitive. Additionally the purple is highly contemporary, and would be popular in 1964.
• The cover line ‘seven star improvements for your kitchen’ gives a quantity to the wonderful things that the audience will find in this magazine. This provides the audience with the illusion of value and quality. Technical term: sell line
• The lexis “Are You An A-Level Beauty?” functions an hermeneutic code to the audience, and directly asks the audience whether or not they are beautiful. The term ‘A-level beauty’ implies there is a specific grade and ranking to beauty, a hierarchy of beauty that the audience must be engaged with. The term “A-level” also reinforces the hegemonic expectation that to be beautiful is to be very young.
• Complete lack of representation of WoC on the front cover, or indeed in the entire magazine. This reinforces and constructs the ideological perspective that WoC are either not important, or not hegemonically beautiful. 
• George Gerbner: symbolic annihilation: where a group of people is completely omitted from a media product, in a sense constructing a world where they don’t exist. By not including black people in Woman, it situates white people at the top of a hierarchy
• The model is heavily airbrushed. Elements that have been airbrushed include her wrinkles, her teeth, and the whites of her eyes. This model has been selected because she is hegemonically attractive. However, some lines have been retained to make this lifestyle relatable and achievable to the target audience. This reinforces the hegemonic norm that younger women are more attractive.
• Woman magazine works by making the target audience dissatisfied with her own life. It sells a better world, of being younger, more organised, and with a better home
• Makeup reflects a natural look, where it is visible, but not ‘over the tope’ . The model’s lipstick is a nude colour, which again is highly subtle. This allows the magazine to target a target audience of mothers and housewives, and an older and more conservative audience 
• The model is pulling a forced smile, which makes the model look uncomfortable and even nervous. She looks more like a mannequin than a woman, and slightly unreal. This highly staged set up constructs an idealised representation of women, where being slightly scared and uncomfortable was a normal thing. This reinforces patriarchal hegemony 
• While ‘lingerie’ has subtle sexual connotations, the magazine is strangely sexless.
• The magazine arguably moulds women into being a perfect patriarchal hegemonic standard. Beautiful, ‘sexy’, nervous, and a good cook, everything arguably reminds the audience of a world where men are in charge 
• The masthead, simply ‘Woman’ infers that this magazine is what all women need. It’s simplicity emphasises it’s importance, and it further infers that it will contain information appropriate to you
• The typeface is quirky and contemporary, and serif. It is italicised and resembles handwriting. Fun, informal, and personal
• The purple background has regal connotations, connotations of wealth and royalty . This therefore has aspirational symbolism, and heavily implies the contents of the magazine are life changing
• Purple is also highly feminine, and suggestive of a female target audience
• The model's makeup is glamorous, and glamorises the role of the housewife. Additionally the makeup is subtle and natural, and suggests a natural beauty that the target audience should aspire to 

Film studies - building perfect examples for L'Age d'Or

 In case you didn't guess from the title, this post is for film studies students. Film studies uses slightly different language to media studies, so unless you also study film studies, I would recommend skipping this post!

Following your mock exam results, the most common piece of feedback given out was that you either

1 - used the wrong element of MES in the wrong section. So costume is MES, but performance is not. It's very picky but this is how you're marked! 

2 - you just didn't include enough reference to micro elements full stop! 

This task will help you address this. After this session, you will have a definitive selection of micro elements to use no matter what question come up

1 - Select one scene from L'Age d'Or, approximately one minute long

It helps if you select a scene that is relatively 'straightforward', with not much cross cutting. However, it can and should be argued that cross cutting is an essential editing technique!

2 - Analyse the scene under the following headings and prompts:

• Mise en scene (lighting, colour, props, costume, set design, setting etc)
• Performance (acting style, naturalistic, proxemics, gesticulation, facial expression etc)
• Cinematography (shot type, camera angle, camera movement etc)
• Sound (diegesis, contrapuntal, naturalistic, soundtrack, score etc)
• Editing (cross cutting, jump cut, rapid fire, match on action, dissolve etc)

Under each one of these bullet points, you should have a list of very specific micro elements for this scene. This is the most essential thing to make reference to in the exam, and it WILL get you marks!

Note: if any of these terms seem strange or alien to you, it's time to do a bit of research and find out what they mean! Seriously, drop what you're doing and revise these terms. It will help you in the long run!

3 - Do this again for two more scenes

Pick your favourite scenes, the scenes which are most memorable. There are no prizes for originality!

Revising for KA2: the newspaper mock

In this session you will be using the blog to revise for the KA2 newspaper mock. This lesson will also help you practice using the blog as a revision resource. 

Basic information

There are two questions in the mock.

1 - Comparing an unseen newspaper front page to a newspaper front page that you have studied - approx 45 mins - media language or representation

The unseen newspaper could be anything. The 'seen' newspaper will either be the Boris Johnson cover of the Mirror or The Times 

2 - A question asking you to refer to a 'print edition' of either The Times or The Mirror. The 'print edition' we looked at was the Pele edition - approx 15 minutes - industry or audience

Practice unseen newspapers

Start with this Wikipedia list of UK newspapers. Pick one at random, and then google it looking for a front page. Analyse it using the textual analysis toolkit. 

Revise the set newspapers

Here they are! You can use the textual analysis toolkit to analyse these too. 

Revise the 'print editions'

You can find these here

Check out the newspaper posts already on the blog

There's lots of information about newspapers already on the blog. As long as you remember that current first year's are revising the Johnson covers, then you shouldn't get confused. There's nothing wrong with checking out older stuff too, as long as you don't get confused and talk about Teresa May in your exam...

Revise key theories

This post has every theory you NEED to know for A-level media. If you look carefully, you will see that under the theorist is a list of industries where you may be expected to talk about this theory. So go through this post, and either make notes or flashcards for every theory that has 'newpapers' under it!

Do even more theory revision

This video I made goes through every key theory in half an hour! Some of the theories are not applicable to newspapers, maybe, but it's a great use of your time if you want to zone out and watch a video

Check out past papers

Not every past paper is focused on newspapers, but check out this page for examples

Use the revision checklist to make your own questions

The revision checklist contains every single question that could EVER come up. So check out the two newspaper sections on it and start trying to work out what will come up in KA2!

Keep digging through the blog!

These are the most important revision resources. However, there's lots more information to find on the blog if you dig around, including stuff on how to write and structure a perfrct response, and lots more AMAZING videos...

Radio: industry matters

In this session, you will be exploring important aspects of the radio industry, as it relates to the BBC and Late Night Woman's Hour. Please follow these tasks through in order, making sure one is complete before you move on to the next one.

1 - Exam feedback 

Before you start the industry work below, it is essential that you check your email and read what grades, marks and feedback you have been sent. 

Then, please take the time to read through this post that gives feedback and suggests content that you could have included. Please read THE ENTIRE THING. Don't skip anything. This post tells you step by step how to achieve an A* grade for the TV unit.

If you've already addressed your feedback, then you can skip this step!

2 - Do your mock!

A few of you haven't done your mock yet, for various reasons. If you haven't, please do it now. Here are the questions:

1 - Explore how Humans and The Returned both target and maintain a specialised audience [30, 50 minutes]

2- To what extent do the representations in Humans reflect the time in which it was made? [15 marks, 25 minutes]

3 - Explore how The Returned has been shaped by the contexts of its ownership [15, 25 minutes]

Of course, if you've done your mock, please skip to the next task!

3 - Power and the media industries

Curran and Seaton argue that because only a few organisations actually own media products, there is a severe imbalance of power in the media industries. They argue that media conglomerates are motivated by power and profit, and this presents a limited choice for audiences.

However, we are going to argue that the BBC is NOT for profit, and presents a plurality of voices and ideologies that commercial services simply cannot.

Power Task - choose one of the BBC's commercial competitors. I recommend Netflix or Disney +, as both are funded through subscription. Either by scrolling through the BBC iPlayer app and the Netflix app side by side, or simply googling for a list of programmes currently on these services, compare and contrast the content presented by these two different services.

To what extent can it be argued that the BBC challenges the idea that all media products exist to make money?

4 - Regulation and the BBC

Livingstone and Lunt argue that the regulation of media industries is ineffective, essentially because digitally convergent media allows producers to bypass regulations.  Radio is regulated by OFCOM. To make things nice and simple, OFCOM monitor media products to ensure they do not have material that is likely to HARM AND OFFEND. 

Regulation Task 1 -Using your notes from the 'vaginas/pockets' episode of Late Night Woman's Hour, what material here is actually likely to harm or offend? Is there anything to force the BBC to apologise, or to remove this content? Try and think beyond the word ' vagina', and consider the presenters, the subject matter, and the concepts they are talking about. Does this show meet the needs of it's audience?

Unless you are very uptight, then there is NO MATERIAL LIKELY TO (seriously) HARM OR OFFEND used in Late Night Women's Hour. The reason for this is that the BBC practice SELF-REGULATION. This means they deliberately moderate their own content so as not to upset audiences, and to be criticised by the UK news media. However, there have been some examples of criticisms of the BBC and its content

Regulation task 2 - using google, find examples of the following:

• A BBC show (radio or TV) that has been complained about by audiences for depicting drug use
• A BBC show (radio or TV) that has been complained about by audiences for depicting sex
• A BBC show (radio or TV) that has been complained about by audiences for depicting violence 
• Criticisms and controversies surrounding the BBC itself
• A story in a tabloid newspaper that criticises the BBC
• Criticisms about BBC Radio 4

5 - Hard facts

Task - Briefly answer the following questions in your blog post. If you don't know the answer, ask someone else if possible!

1. Who produced LNWH?
2. When did LNWH start broadcasting?
3. Give three ways in which LNWH is distributed to it's audiences
4. Who is the target audience for LNWH?
5. How would you describe the production values for this show?
6. How can audiences use digitally convergent media to access LNWH?
7. Who regulates the radio industry?
8. In what ways could an episode of LNWH harm or offend it's audience?
9. What measures are put in place to stop younger people from listening to this show?
10. How is LNWH an example of media plurality?
11. How successful is LNWH from a global perspective?
12. How can audiences use or take pleasure from an episode of LNWH?
13. Is the BBC vertically or horizontally integrated?
14. How does the BBC make money, and how is this different to Netflix?
15. What is one obligation the BBC has that Netflix does not have?

Remember, component one section B is all about cold, hard facts. These examples can simply slot in to your next mock exam or your final exam!

January mock 2023 - TV industry

You need to read each and every word of this post to get the most from your feedback. If you have any questions after reading this post, please ask me and I'll help you out!

Stat block

Depending on your teacher, you may get your result and feedback in different ways. However, everyone will get marks, a grade, and feedback.

Michael will send you a 'stat block'. From left to right, this is your mark for q1, mark for q2, mark q3, total mark, fine grade and feedback numeral. 

A fine grade is your grade (A, B, C) etc followed by a number. 1 is 'high' and 3 is 'low'. So C3 is 'scraping a C'.

The colours relate to your target minimum grade. This grade is based on your GCSE grades. Simply put: green = better than expected. Yellow = exactly what we expect. Red = less than we expect. 

Mark scheme

1 - Explore how Humans and The Returned both target and maintain a specialised audience [30, 50 minutes]

 

Band	AO1 1a and b Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media	AO2 3 Apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to make judgements and draw conclusions
5 - 26	13-15 marks • Excellent knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is perceptive, insightful, and critically informed by a detailed knowledge and understanding of the television industry and consideration of audience.	13-15 marks • Excellent application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to make judgements and draw conclusions. • Judgements and conclusions are perceptive, insightful, and fully supported with detailed reference to specific aspects of the set products.
4 - 20	10-12 marks • Good knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is logical, coherent, and informed by a secure knowledge and understanding of the television industry and consideration of audience.	10-12 marks • Good application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to make judgements and draw conclusions. • Judgements and conclusions are logical, coherent, and well supported with reference to relevant aspects of the set products.
3 - 14	7-9 marks • Satisfactory knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is reasonable and straightforward, demonstrating a generally sound knowledge and understanding of the television industry and consideration of audience.	7-9 marks • Satisfactory application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to make judgements and draw conclusions. • Judgements and conclusions are reasonable and supported in a straightforward manner with some reference to relevant aspects of the set products.
2 - 8	4-6 marks • Basic knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be undeveloped, demonstrating a partial knowledge and understanding of the television industry and consideration of audience. There may be a tendency to simply describe.	4-6 marks • Basic application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to make judgements and draw conclusions. • Basic judgements are made, and some conclusions are drawn, but these are undeveloped and only partially supported by relevant examples.
1 - 1	1-3 marks • Minimal, if any, knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be superficial and generalised, demonstrating little or no knowledge and understanding of the television industry and consideration of audience.	1-3 marks • Minimal application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to make judgements and draw conclusions. • Any conclusions drawn are superficial, generalised and lacking supporting evidence from the set products.
0 marks Response not worthy of credit.

 

 

Answers may include…

 

• ·        Distinguishing between maintaining and targeting as concepts, both of which are essential in ensuring long term success and profitability for a media franchise
• ·        The differences between the two shows in terms of how they target and maintain audiences
• ·        The importance of specialised audiences, and how specialised and general audiences can be simultaneously targeted
• ·        Cult appeal of genre - ‘speculative ethics’ (Humans), ‘The New French Extreme’ (The Returned
• ·        Fandom, audience communities and participatory ways of interacting with these media products
• ·        Modes of address, and the utilisation of specific elements of lexis, generic conventions and so on to appeal to audiences
• ·        The value of genre. Both shows use generic conventions of genres that are historically associated with fans as opposed to generalised audiences. More sophisticated answers will discuss the importance of balancing core generic elements, for example the MES of cybernetics and technology in Humans, with more generalised and relatable elements, for example the cast of relatable character archetypes, that ensure broader financial success
• ·        Utilisation of narrative elements, eg The Returned’s preponderance of hermeneutic codes to construct an unrelenting atmosphere of mystery
• ·        The importance of ‘cult television’, for eg how The Returned has many stylistic similarities to other texts such as Lost, Twin Peaks and so on
• ·        The use of niche, atypical characterisation, and narrative elements, especially in The Returned singles this out as a cult show
• ·        The heavy use of intertextuality in Humans (eg ECU establishing shot of eye makes explicit reference to Blade Runner (1982) appeals to specialised audience
• ·        Intertextual references in The Returned include Switchblade Romance, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and (less explicitly) Let The Right One In
• ·        The use of problematic and thought-provoking representations
• ·        Deliberately challenging and uncomfortable representations of sex and sexuality
• ·        Lots of opportunities to challenge the idea of a preferred reading, as both shows provide lots of examples of radically different audience interpretations
• ·        Both texts simultaneously challenge and cultivate dominant hegemonic ideological perspectives
• ·        The use of cult, post-rock band Mogwai in Les Revs targets and maintains a pre-sold cult audience
• ·        Humans’ synth pop/techno soundtrack
• ·        Humans’ highly atypical and digitally convergent marketing campaign
  
  
  

2- To what extent do the representations in Humans reflect the time in which it was made? [15 marks, 25 minutes]

 

Band	AO1 2a and 2b Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contexts of media and their influence on media products and processes
5	13-15 marks • Excellent knowledge and understanding of historical context and its influence on the set TV show product • Links drawn between the representations in the set TV show product and the historical context in which it was produced are perceptive and insightful • A detailed understanding of the significance of representations in the set TV show is shown
4	10-12 marks • Good knowledge and understanding of historical context and its influence on the set TV show product • Links drawn between the representations in the set TV show product and the historical context in which it was produced are logical • A secure understanding of the significance of representations in the set TV show is shown
3	7-9 marks • Satisfactory knowledge and understanding of historical context and its influence on the set TV show product • Links drawn between the representations in the set TV show product and the historical context in which it was produced are generally sound • A reasonable understanding of the significance of representations in the set TV show is shown
2	4-6 marks • Basic knowledge and understanding of historical context and its influence on the set TV show product • Links drawn between the representations in the set TV show product and the historical context in which it was produced are undeveloped • A basic understanding of the significance of representations in the set TV show is shown
1	1-3 marks • Minimal knowledge and understanding of historical context and its influence on the set TV show product • Any links drawn between the representations in the set TV show product and the historical context in which it was produced are superficial and generalised • A very limited understanding of the significance of representations in the set TV show is shown
0 marks Response not worthy of credit

 

 

 

Answers may include…

 

• ·        It is likely that students will argue ‘to a great extent’, and ultimately this is the expectation here. However, all answers should be considered equally valid when supported by explicit reference to key scenes and media language
• ·        Humans, produced in 2015, broadly reflects the here and the now, and answers should reflect how the show draws attention to contemporary issues
• ·        Students may choose to focus on how Humans functions as an allegory, and captures the zeitgeist of contemporaneous UK socio-political issues
• ·        The value of the sci-fi genre as allegory
• ·        Clear allegories of racism, slavery and so on
• ·        Anita as a hyperreal simulacrum
• ·        Issues of sex, sexualisation, consent and power
• ·        Issues of immigration, race, ethnicity, slavery, and power
• ·        The Hawkins family as a hyperreal metonymy of a British middle-class family
• ·        Use of stereotypes, which may ultimately be more damaging than positive
• ·        Anita’s gender performativity and the radically different ways she affects the Hawkins family
• ·        Niska both fulfils the notion of the heterosexual male gaze, and deliberately positions the audience in an uncomfortable mode of address
• ·        Many opportunities for audiences to explore and to relate to a diverse and conflicting range of identities
• ·        Postcolonial readings: Anita’s representation as an Asian ‘other’ draws attention to Britain’s uneasy relationship with its colonial past

 

3 - Explore how The Returned has been shaped by the contexts of its ownership [15, 25 minutes]

 

Band	AO1 1a and b Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media
5	13-15 marks • Excellent knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be perceptive, insightful, and critically informed by a detailed knowledge and understanding of the TV industry.
4	10-12 marks • Good knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be logical, coherent, and informed by a secure knowledge and understanding of the TV industry.
3	7-9 marks • Satisfactory knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be reasonable and straightforward, demonstrating a generally sound knowledge and understanding of the TV industry.
2	4-6 marks • Basic knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework.
1	1-3 marks • Minimal, if any, knowledge and understanding of relevant aspects of the theoretical framework. • Discussion of the set products is likely to be superficial and generalised, demonstrating little or no knowledge and understanding of the TV industry.
0 marks Response not worthy of credit.

 

 

Answers may include

 

• ·        It is highly likely that successful answers will start with the show’s producer, Canal+, an established, prestigious vertically and horizontally integrated media conglomerate
• ·        Answers are likely to focus on the balance between presenting a niche, unique experience, and the necessity of financial successes
• ·        The seemingly non-commercial and highly atypical nature of this show is typical of a prestige, subscription-based channel
• ·        Surprisingly high budget and production values
• ·        Broadcast contexts, streaming, franchising, and international distribution models that are only made possible through its funding model
• ·        Unique funding model
• ·        Graphic themes of sex and violence, which can only be achieved through an independent and commercially adventurous producer
• ·        1.91 million views for the first episode, which is significant for a niche show
• ·        2 seasons of 8 episodes demonstrates high production costs (8-episode model as opposed to tradition, US style 24 episode ‘season’)
• ·        Funded through grants from Creative Europe and The French Alps Tourist Board. A diverse range of funding, typical of an independent production
• ·        Shot in Haute-Savoie, in the French Alps
• ·        US distributor: Sundance TV, a premium US subscription channel
• ·        Grant of 450000 euros for 1st season and 1000000 euros for the second, which indicates a return on the investment
• ·        Aired at 2050 on Canal+. Prime time! Indicates strong producer confidence

Feedback legend

i - You must include more media language. Shot types, camera angles, mise-en-scene, lexis, colour, setting, whatever, if you're not using these words, you're not getting marks!

ii - You must focus on analysis and suggesting meanings. What do the de-saturated colours mean? How does the lexis target a working class audience? Don't describe... analyse!

iii - Focus on theory. You don't use enough. You should use more. Make sure to properly revise at least three theories for the next mock!

iv - Focus on presenting a clear argument or point of view. You've ticked every other box, so what do you think? Get argumentative! Get angry! And make a big conclusion!

v - Avoid colloquialisms and find your academic tone. Check out the detailed feedback below for more information on this. This one will take time: there's no quick fix!

Grade boundaries 

This assessment didn't have a lot of questions, so the grade boundaries are really close together! That's life!

A* - 81% - 48

A - 71% - 42

B - 61% - 36

C - 52% - 31

D - 43% - 25

E - 35% - 21

U - 20 or below

General feedback

In addition to the 'indicative content' included above, please pay close attention to this more general feedback, which detailed things we saw students doing time and time again... good and bad!

Missing intros

A surprising amount of you didn't include an introduction. I can only assume this is because you feel it will waste time. Well, let me tell you, a good introduction will SAVE you time! You use it to DEFINE the key term, present your ARGUMENT and then detail a bit of CONTEXT about (in this case) the TV shows. This means you can just jump in to the analysis for the rest of the essay! ALWAYS DO AN INTRODUCTION FOR EVERY QUESTION IN COMPONENT 2!

Short industry answers

A less surprising number of you wrote very little for the last question, on industry and Les Revs. This is for one of two reasons. 

One, you run out of time. You need to make sure to spend the right amount of time on each question. This means doing past paper questions under timed conditions. 

Two, you hadn't revised the industry context for Les Revs. You need to visit this post and this post, and cram this information in your head, probably using flash cards!

"Anyone can watch it/the audience is everyone!"

This isn't true. This is never true. Please don't say this. Especially when the question is about a specialised audience (see below)

Use the question to answer the question

The first thing you should do is underline the key terms of the question. This is because you are going to be using them over and over and over again. For example, TARGET, MAINTAIN, SPECIALISED, AUDIENCE. A straightforward technique is to use these words at the start of every paragraph, for your POINT. For example, "Another way in which Humans maintains a specialised audience is through it's use of extremely specific science fiction genre conventions. The opening scene is the perfect example of this...". There we go: a simple, straightforward, yet clear and sophisticated way of structuring your response!

Specialised audience

A specialised audience can be interpreted as niche, small, cult, active, involved. The first question required you to discuss and explore how this specialised audience was targeted and maintained (i.e, what techniques were used to keep them watching). However, WAY too many of you just wrote about audience in general. This wasn't a tragedy, but essentially it means you were not answering the question. See above for more advice on using the question to answer the question.

Audience theory in an audience question

The big 30-marker here was an audience question. There's no issue with using non-audience theory in this question. Someone (let's call him James) effectively used Barthes' semiotic theory to talk about how hermeneutic codes appeal to a niche audience in Les Revenants. Perfect! However, when the question uses the word 'audience', that should be your cue to include audience theories. Here's a couple of examples:

Stuart Hall - Reception theory - "Hall argues that audiences can decode media products in a variety of different ways, and Les Revs takes this to an extreme level. In fact, I would argue that the show has no one preferred reading, and encourages infinite audience negotiation. For example, the scene where Camille comes home..."

Henry Jenkins - fan theory - "Producers must ensure that their product appeals to a generalised audience in order to ensure financial success. however, producers must balance the needs of a general audience with a specialised audience. Perhaps the most significant example of a specialised audience is what Jenkins refers to as fans; active, participatory audiences who engage with media products in a variety of different ways. Humans provides fans a significant number of ways in which to heavily engage with the show. For example, the opening montage..."

Use explicit examples

Question 2 was all about historical representations in Humans, or rather how the representations in Humans reflect what is happening in the UK, RIGHT NOW. So it's a great opportunity to rake in two or so key scenes, and then explore how media language constructs representations! Yet while many of you correctly identified Humans functioning as an allegory, a surprising amount of you included basically no textual analysis, which was a BIG SHAME, as you really should have rinsed this question for tonnes of marks. Here's a few examples of key scenes you could have analysed, the media language you could have referred to, and the issue it represented:

Buying Anita- montage, ECU, reaction shot, setting, MES - the fetishistic close ups not only refer to the fetishization and sexualisation of women in society, but also the issue of slavery and postcolonial attitudes

The brothel scene - tracking shot, POV, lighting, montage, diegetic sound - the threatening combination of bassy diegetic music and low key lighting reinforce the dangers that women face in society, dangers that the producer argues are perpetrated by men

Reflecting the time it was made

The Humans 25 marker was a representation question. But that doesn't mean you can just bang on about sexism and the nuclear family and everything we talked about. Instead, the question is asking you how these representations 'reflect the time in which it was made'. Once more, that time is NOW. This is (just about) a modern show. So everything needs to be linked to contemporary issues. Sexism, the nuclear family and even postmodernism are all good, but this must be related to answering the question!

I feel that I was VERY generous with some marks I gave for this question. Some examiners would give a zero for general representation answers that don't attempt to engage with the 'reflect the time it was made' aspect. Please, UNDERLINE KEY TERMS AND USE THEM CONSTANTLY!

Don't lead with theory

Some students leaned way too hard on postmodernism for the representation question. First of all, this is a media language theory, but if used appropriately it can back up points about representation. But spending an entire essay mainly trying to define it is not appropriate. Generally, theory should be saved for the 'A' of a PEA paragraph. So after making your point and providing detailed evidence of Anita's highly sexualised/fetishised representation, you could add to your 'A', 

"...through these highly sexualised and even fetishistic establishing shots, Anita is not only presented as an object of desire for a heterosexual male audience, but also a hyperreal representation of a hegemonically ideal woman. Simply put, Anita is perfect because she is NOT real and can never exist. This postmodern ideological perspective not only constructs a confusing and compelling mode of address to the science fiction fan target audience, but it also allegorically presents a highly challenging and problematic issue affecting women today..."

Woman magazine: initial response and analysing the front cover

 For this session, you will be getting to grips with Woman Magazine, a UK women's lifestyle magazine published weekly for the best part of a century now. The edition we are exploring is from August 1964. Even just reading these basic facts will probably allow you to guess the main argument we'll be making in lessons:

The representation of women has changed significantly in the almost 60 years since this edition was published

Task one - familiarise yourself with the magazine

You can find the pages of Woman we have to study by clicking here. 

Look through it. You don't need to read every word. Briefly answer the following questions in your notes, using SPECIFIC EXAMPLES TO BACK THEM UP. Yes, I know that Woman magazine is targeting women. But how do you know? And what demographic of women?

• Who is the VERY SPECIFIC target audience for this magazine? How do you know?
• What stereotypical representations can you find?
• Who is not represented or is underrepresented in this magazine?
• What genre is this magazine? Is it typical of it's genre?
• What examples of lexis in this magazine may strike you as interesting, or strange?
• What message is the producer of this magazine presenting to its audience?
• Why might a woman in 1964 actually read this magazine?
• What messages about woman are presented in this magazine?
• How might a woman react to this magazine in 1964? How might a woman react to this magazine in 2023?
• How could this magazine be appealing to audiences?
• What uses and gratifications does it provide to it's audience?

Task two - analysis of the front cover

The front cover is the most important page of a magazine. It sits on a shelf in the newsagent and it screams BUY ME! But it doesn't scream to everyone. For example, Woman magazine is not 'talking' to a male audience. 

This process is called modes of address, because the magazine uses very specific elements of media language to address or talk to its target audience. 

Media language is everything on the toolkit. Shot type, camera angle, colour, mise-en-scene, lexis.... all of this is media language. And it CONSTRUCTS MEANING.

This is the front cover of Woman. Know it well. You WILL be talking about it in the final exam!

How does the front cover of Woman magazine make meaning and address it's audience? Make reference to: 

• Codes and conventions – changes over time? 
• Layout and design
• Composition - positioning of masthead/headlines, cover lines, images, columns 
• Font size, type, colour 
• Images/photographs - shot type, angle, focus
• Mise-en-scene – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up 
• Graphics, logos 
• Language – headline, sub-headings, captions – mode of address
• Copy 
• Anchorage of images and text
• Elements of narrative

Here are a couple of more leading questions if you are feeling uninspired:

What does the purple background symbolise? 

How old is the model? Why is this important?

How can we describe the mise-en-scene of her facial expression?

Why has the producer chosen this particular font for the masthead?

What assumptions does the lexis of the coverlines (coverlines are headlines but on a maazine!!!!) make?

If you do not make notes, this information is lost, forever! Please don't waste your precious time!

Exploring BBC Sounds

 In this session, you will be

• Listening to radio shows through the BBC Sounds web portal (www.bbc.co.uk/sounds) or the BBC Sounds App
• Making notes about a variety of topics, but mainly on how the NEEDS of the AUDIENCE are met

The notes you make today can ALL be used in your final Component One exam, as well as any mocks that feature radio. This is an important lesson, as you are digging out EXAMPLES. And examples get you MARKS.

In order to complete these tasks , you will need a BBC Sounds account, so please set one up if you do not have one already.

BBC Radio 4

Using Wikipedia, ChatGTP, or asking someone else in your house, write down some BRIEF information about BBC Radio 4, it's target audience, and what kind of shows it broadcasts.

Then, using BBC Sounds, find four radio programmes broadcast on BBC 4. What kind of shows are they? How to they appeal to their target audience? Who is their target audience? How do they meet the needs of their target audience? And how can audiences use these shows?

The BBC Sounds web portal

Many people, especially younger people will access BBC sounds using either the web portal (basically an old fashioned term for website: a 'portal' to other pages, or the BBC Sounds App, which can (and should) be downloaded for free for your phone. This approach is called convergent media, and it brings together different industries to target new audiences. In this case, it means the combination of internet and radio. [MICHAEL VOICE: WRITE THAT DOWN!]

These questions may seem a little weird, because you'll be briefly analysing a website or an app. However, a significant amount of time and money has been devoted to making these as user friendly and enjoyable to use.

Please answer the following question with screenshots from the site or above, as well as your own bullet point notes

How does BBC Sounds appeal and meet the needs of it's audiences? Make reference to:

• Thumbnails (the preview images that suggest programme content)
• Lexis
• Images
• Font
• Colour
• Hyperlinks (the words or images you click on to access content)
• Engagement (these are techniques that keep you engaged with the website, and stop you from leaving it. Engagement is a very important concept for online media!)
• Accessibility (is this website suitable and easy to use for people of different ages and abilities?)
• Plurality (the ability to appeal and meet the needs of multiple audiences)

How does BBC Sounds meet your needs?

This next task is important, and it's fun. In order to explain how BBC Sounds adopts a pluralistic approach to media production, you are going to find an example of how it meets YOUR needs. You will then refer to this briefly in the exam.

Find a podcast, show, music mix, anything on BBC Sounds that is 'made for you'. Not something you 'sort of' like, something that meets your needs and interests in a specific way. You will need to listen to lots of different things.

Then, make notes on how it appeals to you, and meets your needs.

Using me (Michael) as an example, my perfect show is The New Music Show on BBC Radio 3. It's absolutely crazy! It plays some of the most challenging and experimental music I've heard. It's brilliant, and I can't believe it's played on national radio. Why? Because it meets the need of a very niche audience (experimental music fans). But from a financial perspective, it also encourages me to keep paying the TV licence, as I feel represented.

How does BBC sounds meet someone else's needs?

Final task! Find a podcast you ABSOLUTELY WOULD NEVER LISTEN TO. Listen to it. Sorry. How does this podcast meet the needs of a completely different audience that ISN'T YOU?