Media Paper 1 mock exam - Learner response

Here, we need to closely analyse our performance across each question in Paper 1 and identify specific ways we will improve for the real exam on Monday 19 May (PM). Complete the following learner response tasks in a new blogpost on your Media Exam Blog called 'Paper 1 mock exam learner response':

1) Type up any feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).

WWW: Muhammed, good moments of knowledge e.g. media terminology for Q5.1/ 5.2 and overall sound knowledge of named CSPs in this paper. 

EBI: Think you need to ensure you are addressing the Q's for the 20-mark Q's could you do a quick plan? Unsure if you took your extra time - as Q4 felt quite short.

Mark: 36/84

Grade - D 

Now read through the genuine AQA mark scheme. This is vital as the paper was an official exam paper and therefore the mark scheme tells us a lot about what AQA are expecting us to produce.

2) Write a question-by-question analysis of your performance. For each question, write how many marks you got from the number available and identify any points that you missed by carefully studying the AQA indicative content in the mark scheme:

Example: Q1: 4/8 marks

Additional points: didn't mention enough about genre theory e.g. Neale repetition and difference. Could have added more about use of Daniel Craig (star) and James Bond (character) alongside references to spy/action genre. Could discuss Bond as its own genre due to longevity of franchise and the appeal of this to the watch company. 

Question 1: 4/8 marks.

AQA

Points I missed: the use of mise en scène elements to denote aspects of genre, eg the use of costume and props to construct the archetypal British spy as personified by Bond (smart overcoat, black gloves etc) would enable the product advertised (the Omega watch) to be readily associated with the Bond brand (through iconic signifiers). The tagline ‘James Bond’s Choice’ further enables the audience to associate the product with the character – perhaps this watch is yet another one of his intricate spy gadgets?

Own analysis

Use of Steve Neal's repetition of genre theory and how it has been used through the representation of James Bond with the Omega watch advert. Another theorist that could have been used was Propp's character theory e.g. the Omega watch being Bond's sidekick and James Bond being the main character hero. 

Question 2: 5/12 marks.

AQA

Points I missed: both products appear to reinforce Van Zoonen’s notion of patriarchy with men represented as a dominant force to a greater or lesser extent, reinforcing stereotypical ideas about the nature of male identity to the audience. 

Both products advertise items aimed at men. That said, the idealised version of masculinity featured in the contemporary Bond-themed advertisement suggests that it could also be used to attract ‘women buying for men’. This is arguably less in evidence with Score as the advert appears to be constructed to work with a more overtly masculine sensibility in its use of the sexist joke as sales technique.

Own analysis

'Get what you always wanted' - shows for Score towards men they can get 'what they want wanted' such as female attention if they use their hair product. Gauntlett's theory on 'masculinity changing over time' is shown in both these products. Score focuses on female validation however in the Omega advert it focuses more towards power and professionalism as it is still being both targeted at the same gender males which shows over time men are shifting a bit of their views onto themselves and how they are seen through the eyes of a female and how they can look better e.g. such as buying the Omega watch that is being advertised from a dominant leading male role Daniel Craig who is  James Bond and how he is a modern example of being the clear stereotype of a strong dominant male. 

Question 3: 5/9 marks. 

AQA

Points I missed: band members are shown driving aimlessly (and at times rather recklessly) around the deserted streets of a city, this can be read as both a negatively stereotypical portrayal of ‘disaffected youth’ and more positively, as the young expressing their dismay and concern at the way their community is being destroyed by the Thatcher government, eg ‘no job to be had in this country’. 

Own analysis

Diversity in the music video as they are a multicultural music band. Shows they are welcoming towards coloured people as during the time there were Brixton riots going on and Thatcherism which was when black people were out of jobs and being targeted with racial slurs. The Specials were going against this and opposing Thatcher's idea as they made their protest song 'Ghost Town' and going against her viewpoints and ideas. 

Question 4: 6/20 marks.

AQA

Points I missed: structuralists suggests that culture can be ‘read’ like a language this is about encoding and decoding, the very process of signification and ultimately the ‘practice’ of ideology.

Own analysis

Binary oppositions are shown in both media texts such as in Score we see how the male is being lifted up by the females surrounding him which can show he is the dominant one when the females around him are all submissive and idolising over him . Another binary opposition in Score is how the male is wearing more covered up civilised clothes as he is wearing an army uniform whereas the females are showing off more of their flesh and body wearing more revealing clothes. For Sephora some features of binary opposite race are black and white which can overall affect a less binary world therefore Levi-Strauss theory is less valid here. 

Question 5.1: 2/3 marks.

AQA

Point I missed: deregulation

Question 5.2: 3/3 marks. 

Question 6: 3/9 marks

AQA

Points I missed: the film-makers made use of an elaborate poster campaign which was designed to differ by region (eg called The music of my life in South America) in order to meet the demands and tastes of specific audiences globally. Theatrical trailers of varying lengths were also released with a PG certificate to make them widely available to a range of potential audiences globally.

My own analysis

Blinded By The Light used traditional marketing festivals such as attending the Sundance festivcale and the Cannes festival to try help promote their film. The also hosted premieres in London, Luton and New Jersey. It was premiered in New Jersey because of the connection to Bruce Springsteen as the movie was dedicated to him as well as he was the inspiration for the boy in the movie. In addition, since it was a low budgeted movie some of the strategies were too expensive for them to afford meaning they had to stick to traditional marketing either way. At the box office the movie did not do as well as it should have as it made only £18 million from the whole movie which cost £15 million to produce. This could have been due to another rival film coming out Yesterday which had Ed Sheeran in it who was the star power behind the movie creating audience attention straight away. The move BBTL coming out during a global lock down as well did not help boost it figures for profit as everyone was at home and not allowed to go watch any movies at the cinemas.

Question 7: 8/20 marks. 

AQA 

Points I missed: Newsbeat is said to offer a succinct and accessible news service suitably

packaged for a ‘young’ audience aged between 16–35 years. Newsbeat’s target audience of ‘digital natives’ is encouraged to interact with stories and contributors using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

There was clearly an audience expectation: people who listened to radio at the time arguably expected to be entertained or informed by content and placed trust in the producers to provide programming for a specific purpose which adhered to certain standards and conventions.

My own analysis 

With WOTW it was unclear what the TA was as everyone would listen to radio at the time as there was no other soruce of media for them to use or watch. However, for Newsbeat we can see that they have a clear target audience of 16-35 year old that they try target by reflecting how diversified they are such as having young presenters and regional accents from all around the UK. 

3) Look at Question 4 - a 20-mark essay evaluating Levi-Strauss's binary opposition theory. Write an essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme and with enough content to meet the criteria for Level 4 (top level). This will be somewhere between 3-4 well-developed paragraphs plus an introduction answering the question planned in some detail.

Introduction

Key words/ answer the Q with your main argument 

Paragraph 1: Binary oppositions are shown in both media texts such as in Score we see how the male is being lifted up by the females surrounding him which can show he is the dominant one when the females around him are all submissive and idolising over him . Another binary opposition in Score is how the male is wearing more covered up civilised clothes as he is wearing an army uniform whereas the females are showing off more of their flesh and body wearing more revealing clothes.

Paragraph 2: The film itself offers colour-monochrome, moving image-still image, sound-silence, new stock-archive, past-present. The content is founded on Black-White, freedom-constraint, dominance dependency, straight-kinked, natural-artificial, superficial-profound, individual-collective, untouched cosmetic, exotic-mundane, professional-home-made, individual-collective.

Paragraph 3: I feel like in both these CSP's there is a lot of binary oppositions shown to support Levi-Strauss's idea of how things has changed over time and we see these through the clear examples given to us in Sephora and Score. For Score we can further explain the binary opposition as well for the man with his rifle and how he is holding it up. This is because we can interpret that as a phallic symbol which links in with men and their sexuality as being homosexual was decriminalised in 1967 which can show that the man holding his rifle upwards in a  certain way can show and support the idea with how ideas are changing over time with how men are viewed and seen within today's society and in the media.

4) Based on the whole of your Paper 1 learner response, plan FIVE topics / concepts / CSPs / theories that you will prioritise in your summer exam Media revision timetable.

First topic (CSP): Sephora Black Beauty. This is because I honestly did not have as much knowledge based around it that I wish I had which could have significantly helped me in the exam and helped me to gain more marks and boost my grade. 

Second topic: Levi-Strauss' binary oppositions theory. This is because I did understand the theory but it was not enough to answer the 20 marker which I felt was a crucial point in the exam paper for me to show off my knowledge and gain marks.

Third topic: Practising exam styled questions and doing practice papers. This is because I did not do any exam questions at all which I should have done so it gave me a more better experience about how the mock would go so I could have done more better and well under pressure and no over stressed and over panicked during the exam when I did not know what to write. 

Fourth topic: Making flashcards. This is because I strongly feel like this will help me revise more easier and more comfortably without having to cram everything into my brain and hoping for the best to remember it when making flashcards will help create a slow and steady process for me remembering bit by bit everything that I need to learn for the actual thing.

Fifth topic: Practising my timing more. This is because even though I get extra time, I should still work at a quicker pace so I do have more than enough time to go and read through my work that I written and check if I need any last minute quick changes or not.