Please note: this information mainly is related to Michael's classes. Naamah may well give feedback in a different way!
If you are being taught by Michael, you will (soon) receive an email with a colourful set of numbers and letters. In order to understand this, you MUST read the whole of this post!
Percentages
Please not U block did a slightly different exam, omitting a single question due to over half of the class being affected by public transport issues. Your grade boundaries are different.
80% - A* (Q40) (U33)
70% - A (Q35) (U29)
58% - B (Q29) (U24)
47% - C (Q22) (U19)
35% - D (Q17) (U14)
20% - E (Q10) (U8)
Possible indicative content
This is the kind of stuff you could have written about. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to write about it.
Overall feedback
Absolutely everybody (in Q block and U block at least) needs to use more media language. Many used a ‘satisfactory’ amount, but even this isn’t enough. This is something we will practice extensively going forward, so it’s not a concern. Yet the amount of C/D grades are very much indicative of not using enough media language. Without media language, your answer will be superficial, common sense, rambling and lack specificity. So, all of you, please, get to the textual analysis toolkit, and make sure you have it open in front of you in every lesson when giving responses
Question 1: Media Language A. How does The Daily Star use technical and written codes on their front page to influence meaning? [15]
- Stuart Hall’s reception theory would be useful here, as a means to explain how audiences could agree with or reject the ideology of the producer. Remember: simply name checking Hall is not going to get you many marks. Better responses integrated the analysis in to the response in a more organic way, for example:
- Please don’t say ‘they’. It’s the producer. The producer made this newspaper and encoded ideological perspectives, not ‘they!
- Many of you use the phrase ‘grabs attention’ or ‘holds attention’, especially when referring to the use of the colour red in the masthead. There’s technically nothing wrong with this, but there are a few more sophisticated ways of writing this. For example: “the prominent use of the colour red is used to appeal to the target working class audience”, or “the symbolic connotations of the colour red, including of death, violence, passion and love position the working class target audience in an exciting and involving mode of address.”
- When making reference to theory, generally you do not need to make reference to the theorist. Why? Because it wastes precious time, and gets you very few marks. So instead of trying to explain Stuart Hall’s theory of audience negotiation (reception theory), instead just use the theory! For example, “reception theory is useful here when considering the many different ways in which the audience can respond to this front cover. The preferred reading is clearly that the working class target audience should despise Prince Andrew while supporting the monarchy. However, some audience members may take an oppositional reading, feeling belittled and disempowered by the newspaper’s deliberately childish lexis, and the informal connotations of the mise-en-scene of the speech bubble”.
- Quite a few people suggested that the target audience for The Daily Star is younger. This might seem logical, but it isn’t true. Print newspapers primarily target a middle aged+ audience. This really hammers home exactly how simple the lexis is: while this tabloid uses language and imagery appropriate for a child, it is aimed at people significantly older than you!
Question 2: Media Industries A. Briefly explain how the film industry is regulated in Britain [2]
B. What is an independent film? [1]
C. Explain how some films challenge the idea that profit is the main purpose of film-making. Refer to I, Daniel Blake to support your points [12]
Twelve marks here is still only twelve minutes of writing, so remember: there is not an expectation to write loads.
AO1
Responses will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the commercial imperative within the film industry, and how this may shape products, such as:
• the nature of media ownership and funding models for film
• the economic and commercial benefits of different models of funding
• the ideological implications of different models of funding
• the importance of funding to media products
• issues of political bias and editorial control within different models of funding
• theoretical approaches such as Curran and Seaton's discussion of 'the logic of profit and power' in media industries, and/or Hesmondhalgh's views on the cultural industries
Responses should refer to I, Daniel Blake to support points and show an understanding of how this film operates within and outside the drive for commercial success, such as:
• The impact of funding by the BBC, which is a public service broadcaster, and the BFI (British Film Institute), funded itself by the National Lottery.
• The BFI has a remit to promote the development of film in the UK.
• Both the BBC and the BFI may be seen as outside the commercial mainstream, as they gain funding from public bodies such as the licence fee (BBC) and the National Lottery Social Fund (BFI)
• Gaining funding from public bodies avoids media concentration and may support a less generic and more adventurous film by allowing the director to work with fewer pressures to produce a commercially successful film
• I, Daniel Blake is directed by Ken Loach, a famous British director who has had critical success with many previous films
• I, Daniel Blake was shown at film festivals, where it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. This suggests the film is a critical success and demonstrates the variety and diversity of the British film industry.
• '1 Daniel Blake is a British social-realist film with an anti-government bias and what may be considered a nonmainstream approach and message.
• The film is unlikely to have been funded by commercial film companies, suggesting its audience would be too small to guarantee profit.
• This raises questions about the purpose of using public money to fund films that the public do not want to watch, and whether this is important for diversity and a good use of public money.
Answers which achieve marks within the higher bands are likely to draw on knowledge and understanding of other areas of the theoretical framework and/or media contexts; for example:
• the media language of I, Daniel Blake such as the realistic dialogue, use of regional accents, use of real-life locations for settings, lack of special effects, etc., and how this might enhance or restrict the appeal of the film
• the appeal to a narrow 'pre-sold' audience of potentially left-wing, media-literate film fans
• the 'star appeal' of director Ken Loach to audiences
• the representation of Northern working-class people who are living in poverty, showing a group of people who are rarely represented in films
• the impact of a social context of poverty and the benefits and welfare system in england, and the film's political stance of critiquing government policy
• the impact of an economic context of 'austerity Britain'
Question 3: Media Audiences A. Explain how patterns of consumption can be influences by media technologies. Refer to The Times to support your points. [8]
Responses will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media audiences and how changing technologies affect patterns of consumption in audiences, such as:
• The rise in digital technology has led to changes in how audiences access and consume the news, with a drop in print sales and an increase in catch-up and watch-again services for news bulletins on line, news apps, live news updates to phones, and news via social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.
• Audiences tend to consume news 'on the go' and throughout the day, rather than reading a morning newspaper or watching an evening news bulletin.
• Newspapers have had to make changes to appeal to the digital generation.
• In 1996, The Times placed all its content on line on its website for free. In 2010 it introduced a paywall for its on line content. It was one of the first newspapers to charge for on line content. Initially, site visits dropped c;lramatically, by almost 90%. Since then The Times has found ways to increase site traffic, and profits for the newspaper as a whole have increased.
• The paywall protects web content and gives The Times an air of exclusivity, emphasising its place as a quality news provider. It has focused on a smaller, more exclusive audience, rather than the free-to-all model. This appeals to its audience demographic which has the highest number of ABCl readers of any newspaper in the UK. It also has the most London-based readers and has a reputation of being the newspaper of the educated establishment elite.
• Digital media allows the audience to become less passive and more active, personalising the experience and enabling them to select news and standpoints to suit them, rather than relying on what a newspaper thinks they should be interested in.
• Audiences can also 'speak back' to news sites and contribute their own opinions. Reference can be made to Shirky's 'end of audience' theory.
• The tag line for a recent advertising campaign by The Times was 'Don't read everything you believe' - drawing attention to The Times' 'unbiased' reporting and the 'echo chamber' effect of only reading the news on social media sources which only provide opinions that match those of the audience.
• The rise in 'fake news' has led to some loss of faith in social media to provide unbiased and real news. The Times focuses on its reliability and trustworthiness as a news provider, emphasising that 'you get what you pay for' - suggesting that using a paywall site newspaper allows you to get 'real' news and 'real' investigative journalism, even online.
B. How do newspapers appeal to different needs of audiences? Refer to the Daily Mirror to support your points. [12]
Answers will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media audiences and how newspapers appeal to the different needs of different audiences, such as:
• the difference between mass and niche/specialised audiences
• an understanding that newspapers are commercial organisations whose success is largely dependent on profits
• the varied marketplace for newspapers, and the range of audiences addressed by various titles
• the patterns of ownership within the newspaper industry and how these might affect the appeal of newspapers to mass and niche audiences
• the way newspapers appeal to and satisfy audiences
• cultivation theory and whether this influences audiences
Specific examples from the Daily Mirror may be offered, depending on the edition(s) studied, potentially relating to points such as:
• The position of the Daily Mirror within the marketplace and how this affects audience:
o Tabloid rather than broadsheet- e.g. large pictures dominate the front page; use of colour; the red top masthead; the size of the newspaper; the large headlines; the sensational language; the relative lack of copy.
o As a red top tabloid, the Daily Mirror is in the same category as The Sun and the Daily Star, etc. The Daily Mirror sees itself as a 'mid top,' straddling the line between the red tops (sensational, entertaining) and the middle-market black tops (still entertaining but with more serious news). Black-top tabloids are considered more middle market, lying between the red top tabloids, and the 'quality' newspapers.
o Redesigned in 2013 and an advertising campaign titled #Madeuthink, emphasising its new focus on including more serious news and branding the newspaper 'the intelligent tabloid' and 'a tabloid with a brain' - may suggest it aims at a relatively niche audience.
• Audience size: circulation figures (around 600,000) place it lower than other red tops, such as The Sun, with a circulation of over 1.5 million, and the Daily Mail, with a similar 1.5 million circulation. But the Daily Mirror has a larger circulation than, for example, The Times (450,000) and other quality newspapers.
• Appeals to a niche audience through its social and political standpoint - the Daily Mirror is the only red top with a bias towards left-wing politics. The Daily Mail and The Sun, for example, both support the Conservative Party. The Daily Mirror usually supports the Labour Party.
• Awareness that newspapers tend to appeal to a relatively narrow demographic:
o The Daily Mirror has a large share of the millennials market- 29% of its readership are millennials
o The Daily Mirror's readership is 53% male
o The Daily Mirror has a largely working-class C2, D and E audience; it tends to support the rights of the working class and is unafraid to criticise the elite or ruling class and champion the rights of 'ordinary' people
• Awareness that newspapers tend to appeal to a relatively narrow demographic and reflect rather than challenge the views and values of that demographic.
Marks mean nothing. Grades mean nothing.
This is quite difficult to get your head around, but marks are not grades. Marks don’t mean anything. They’re just a number. So why do we give marks? Because they do make sense, but only when the entire country is taken in to account. That way the examiner knows for sure how difficult or easy the question has been. Then the marks get transformed in to grades.
When we ‘mark papers’, we are not adding up ‘good points’ or media language or references to theory or whatever. Instead, we read through your answer. Then we read through the level descriptors we have been given. Then we work out how high or low you are in that grade descriptor. Then we give you a mark.
This mark and this level basically mean nothing until the grade boundaries are defined, which can only be done when everybody in the country has been assessed.
So,
PLEASE DO NOT THINK ABOUT MARKS. Please don’t even think about grades!
Feedback
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| Please take your time to get your head around my feedback system! It's actually very simple, and saves a lot of time. This is important! |
In media, we give feedback in four different ways. First, you will get a mark. You can cross reference this mark with the grade descriptors to work out how secure your grade is. You will also get a grade, for each question, and an overall grade. This will allow you to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie.
However, even more important than marks and grades is feedback. You will get a single roman numeral, which will link to one basic piece of feedback. This is the one thing you should focus on next time. This strategy works really well, definitely loads better than giving you eighteen detailed things to focus on. You can also find detailed generalised feedback for the whole cohort below.
Remember why we do exams: not to freak you out, but to give you an opportunity to prove your specialism in a subject, and to improve next time. No matter how well or badly you think you have done, you can always do better next time, even if you get an A*!
There is only one reason why you do a mock: to get feedback, and to do better next time.
This time, for Q and U block (Michael’s classes, I have almost always given the same feedback for everyone: media language. Do more of it. Use more of it. Use more media language. Please, use more media language!
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!