Key assessment 4 - mark scheme and feedback

Mock exams in media A-level are marked in

1. A raw mark
2. A grade/number, indicating how high or low you were with the grade boundary
3. A specific term of feedback, decoded using this blogpost, as well as a specific action
4. General feedback to take on board

Indicative content

AKA: this is what you could have written...

Guess what? There's loads of ways you can get marks in media studies. Unlike other subjects (for example maths) where there is a right and wrong answer, media students are judged on the strength of their argument, their demonstration of knowledge and understanding, and their ability to textually analyse media products.

So here's a tip. Don't worry about the mark scheme. It's kind of useless for students. Instead, concentrate on strengthening your argument, and practice applying knowledge and understanding. You know, the kind of stuff we do in class every day!

1) Compare how ideologies are presented through representation in the music videos to Love Story by Taylor Swift and Formation by Beyoncé. In your answer, you must
• Consider how representations reflect ideologies
• Explore how ethnicity is represented through media language
• Explore how far social and cultural contexts influence representations [30]

• This is an extended answer question where students should spend a total of 45 minutes initially analysing the unseen music video and then presenting a detailed and coherent comparison.
• The question explicitly asks for the candidate to explore the representation of ethnicity, though candidates may also refer to representations of gender, age, issues and national identity.
• Responses must include comparisons between the set product and the unseen product. It is not expected that these will be analysed equally, although higher level responses will cover both products in a more even way
• THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLES OF CONTENT ARE SUGGESTIONS ONLY. Candidates may explore these products through a range of contexts and theoretical perspectives. 
• However, clearly the representations of white people in Love Story and the representations of black people in Formation are almost total binary oppositions, and answers are likely to focus on these differences.

Formation

Formation by Beyonce consistently places black people in settings connotative of deprivation and
poverty, arguably reinforcing reinforcing commonly held stereotypes to draw attention to
current social issues. 

• Empowering message of solidarity, relating to the ‘sisterhood’ and ‘keeping in formation’
• Dominant ideologies relating to equality and diversity through the representations of ethnicity, for example the reference to Martin Luther King
• Beyonce is constructed as an empowered, successful role model who is not part of an oppressed minority but is aware of her cultural heritage and of the inequalities that still exist
• Formation constructs a negative representation of the police, implying that the police are racist and did not help the black community following Hurricane Katrina
• In Formation, the ideological messages are more complex and less singular than those in Love Story. The video explores a range of different aspects of ethnicity and identity in relation to, for example, celebrity culture, gender and poverty, considering issues of race and power. Postcolonial theory and the ideas of bell hooks would be relevant here.
• Formation focuses primarily on representations of women and explores issues such as objectification
• Contemporary American society, particularly socially deprivation, is referenced through the use of media language in Formation: iconography relating to the police, graffiti, and derelict buildings convey ideologies about social derivation and racial inequality
• In Formation, these images are juxtaposed with iconography of wealth and luxury to emphasise the divisions. Formation also references historical contexts as it explicitly explores notions of power in relation to ethnicity
• Formation constructs many elements of contemporary femininity, including an exploration of the sexualisation of women and female empowerment
• Beyonce is a mainstream cultural icon who references elements of celebrity culture, the paparazzi, and luxury lifestyle of a successful star, upholding a contemporary consumerist ideology as well as conveying a message about equality.

Love Story

Love Story by Taylor Swift uses a range of luxurious mise-en-scene and establishing shots to anchor
the audience to accept the dominant ideology that it's exclusive white representations are in a position
of hegemonic power and privilege.  

• An arguably simplistic and straightforward representation of gender and ethnicity
• Dominant reading/ideological perspective is that a woman is only 'complete' when she has entered in to a heterosexual union with a man. Heavy use of intertextuality confirms this. 
• Stereotypical representations of white people occupying positions of power and privilege in a fantasy/European setting
• Reinforces hegemonic assumptions of gender stereotypes through the symbolic connotations of the costume, setting and other aspects of mise-en-scene
• Establishing shots are connotative of luxury, wealth and power. Reinforces hegemonic notions that white people occupy a higher hierarchical status than black people in media products (Gilroy)
• Lack of representation of non-white people: symbolic annihilation
• Initial establishing montage makes many intertextual reference to the American college/high school genre
• While both products feature period design and costumes, Formation uses this to make a political statement, while Love Story simply reflects a period where genre roles were more defined in order to establish a stereotypical 'princess' narrative
• No reference to social issues. Song is straightforward modern pop/country, appealing to a white working class audience
• Video is almost deliberately non-feminist, presenting a cliched and deliberately old fashioned representation of gender roles. 
• Van-Zoonen: gender is constructed through media language, for example the low key lighting, the low cut corset. Subtle sexualisation and a gentle, traditional representation of stereotypical femininity.
• Use of montage editing creates a literal interpretation of the lyrics, incredibly easy to follow for the young female target audience. A clear and easy to follow narrative about love and romance in, um, Tudor England...
• Reinforces Van-Zoonen's notion of the male gaze. Shot/reverse shot of Swift being viewed by attractive man. 
• Constant mid-shots reinforces not only Swift's status as celebrity, but also her sexual attractiveness. 
• Performance and dance routines are gentle and simplistic, with little emphasis on body movement and more emphasis on facial expression
• Lyrics: "you be the prince and I'll be the princess", once more reinforces gender roles. A simple representation of white femininity.

2) Explore how newspapers target their audiences. Make reference to The Daily Mirror to support your points. [12]

• This is an audience question, and as such should include references to the target and secondary audiences for The Daily Mirror and any other newspaper referred to, as well as relevant audience theories, including George Gerbner's cultivation theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory
• The Daily Mirror is a left wing newspaper that is openly critical of the far-right Donald Trump
• Anchorage and bias demonstrated through selection of images
• Colloquial and unsophisticated lexis demonstrates an attempt to target and engage with a working class audience
• The Daily Mirror uses a digitally convergent business model, with it's online sister publication Mirror Online appealing to a younger audience
• The newspapers slogan, 'the intelligent tabloid' is a unique selling point, targeting an upmarket audience
• Use of emotive language, for example 'toddler hammer death' uses loess sophisticated lexis to appeal to a mass and generalised audience
• Reach PLC are the largest regional newspaper publisher, and local newspapers (for example Cambridge News!) are a key part of their business strategy

3) According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, texts convey their meanings through a system of binary oppositions.
Evaluate this structuralist theory. Refer to the set editions of Woman and Adbusters to support your points. [30]

• While candidates can adopt a range of responses, it is likely that they will agree with the usefulness of structuralist theory when applied to media products in general and magazines in particular.
• Stronger candidates will argue from the outset the ideological implications of utilising binary oppositions to construct an easily identifiable set of ideological perspectives for the target audience to identify with
• Other candidates may primarily argue that binary oppositions provide narrative conflict
• It is likely that due to the frankly oppositional nature of these magazines, students may well structure their argument around comparison and contrast, and may even draw diametric oppositions between the set products themselves. This is wholly acceptable.
• Other students may suggest other theoretical perspectives from which to better analyse these magazines, and may discuss how binary oppositions reinforce or challenge hegemonic constructs when referring to Woman and Adbusters respectively.
• There are SO MANY examples of binary oppositions that only a few will be listed here, but remember: in order to get the big marks, you must evaluate how and why they are used.

Woman

• MALE/FEMALE. This binary is reinforced throughout the magazine, including in the Hitchcock interview and the Creme Puff advert. By delineating between gender roles, hegemonic social norms are reinforced, possibly for the purpose of constructing an audience

Adbusters

• RICH/POOR - This binary is explored throughout the magazine, for the ideological purpose of criticising disparities in wealth. An excellent example is the 'catwalk/louboutin' double page spread, that uses collage and culture jamming to emphasise the difference between rich and poor and to lay blame on wealth disparity at the global elite
• LIGHT/DARK - This binary is used again to emphasise the ideological perspective of the magazine. Bleak, white backgrounds are used with small and scratchy black text
• WEST/POST-WEST - The front cover presents a binary opposition between 'West/Post-West, positioning the (Western) audience in an uncomfortable and difficult to negotiated mode of address. The lack of anchorage is deliberately confusing, and presents the ideological perspective that the world and geo-politics are confusing

Mark scheme

Your assessment will be marked according to this simplified version of the mark scheme. The only thing that is different about this one is that the band descriptors have been generalised to fit any question.

As stated above, remember that the indicative content is going to help you way more than knowing the mark scheme!

To work out the overall grade, we took rough grade boundaries as a percentage from a previous AS exam. Since this is at the time of writing the only time a media exam has been sat, we do not know if it is harsh or generous...

A* - 81% - 58 - 75

A – 71%  -  51 - 57

B – 61% - 43 - 50

C – 52% - 37 - 42

D – 43% - 30 - 36

E – 35% - 25 - 29

U – 0 - 24

Feedback legend

Along with your grade, you will also be given one or two roman numerals that link to a piece of specific feedback. This is what you should prioritise above everything else the next time you write something for media. This includes your upcoming aims and intentions mini-essay!

i - Media language - you are not using enough key media language! Make sure to revise the textual analysis toolkit. Remember, without media language, you are giving a common sense response!
NEXT TIME: go overboard with media language, even if you think you're going too far!

ii- Knowledge and understanding - you are not familiar enough with the set texts... or you are simply not getting this knowledge across in the response. Re-read/watch the media products we have studied in class!
NEXT TIME: be as explicit as possible when discussing the media products we have studied in class. Maybe print out the pages from Woman and pin them up in your bedroom?

iii - The big concepts- you are not making enough considered reference to concepts such as ideology, cultivation, patriarchal hegemony, polysemic readings and so on. Revise and apply advanced media concepts for a better result.
NEXT TIME: make reference to hegemonic norms and values. This concept can apply to everything we have studied, and is especially appropriate to component one a and all parts of component two!

iv- Theorists - You are not referring to theories and theorists by name. Sort it out!
NEXT TIME: make a series of pass cards or a blog post that detail each and every theorist, their face, their name, their ideology, the key points

v- you must answer the question -  If the question asks you to consider representation, then this is what you must write about!
NEXT TIME: underline the key terms in the question and keep coming back to them in each and every paragraph.

General feedback

Responses were often too descriptive, and needed more media language. Luckily this is the easiest thing to address. All students must be familiar with the set texts and must be able to use media language to analyse how they create meaning.
OK, we've seen enough to make a decision: the official advice is DO NOT compare two different products in the same paragraph. It leads to simple and straightforward responses. Ensure that each paragraph uses the PEA structure and focuses on one point in particular.

Music videos

• Many people pointed out the love Story featured only white characters, but not many people really pushed the ideological significance of this. Does it reinforce hegemonic norms? Is it to target a white working class audience?
• Please can we stop saying stuff like 'you can see' or 'they did this'. Make explicit reference to the audience and producer!
• Only a few students really explored the sociohistorical context of the music videos. There's so much to talk about with Formation, since it's set in multiple time periods simultaneously!
• A couple of people talked about LGBT representations in Formation, which is interesting as there are no explicitly gay people or themes in the video! However, one thing could be to point out that the video totally rips of and takes footage from the documentary That B.E.A.T which does explore queer themes in relation to the New Orleans Bounce music scene. Formation takes the footage, mise en scene and energy and completely ditches any reference to gay people. Why does it do this?

Newspapers

• For the newspaper audience question, pretty much nobody used any audience theory, but instead focussed on textually analysing the Trump cover... which is not what the question was really asking for! 
• Gerbner (cultivation) and Hall (reception) would be especially useful here. You also need to define the target audience.

Magazines

• Lots of great responses to this one
• Given it was the last question on the mock, naturally several students didn't leave enough time to answer it. Make sure to very strictly stick to the timings we have given you, and even if you don't think you've finished a question, it's almost always best to move on to the next one.
• The best responses demonstrated excellent knowledge and understanding and came back to the question consistently.
• The weaker responses ignored the 'evaluate' part of the question.