Media Paper 2: Learner Response

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

Total = 21 = B

WWW - There are some excellent elements across both questions here. In Q1 you are just off the top level and in Q2 you stay focused on the question - validity of theory - throughout. Now we need to add the depth, sophistication and theory to open up the top levels.

EBI - In Q2, you confuse left-wing/right-wing and 'woke' ideologies a little...it might be worth us discussing this as it's not easy but these political contexts are crucial to accessing the top level in paper 2.

- Keep an eye on written English and handwriting. You don't want an examiner making snap judgements about you, particularly as we're aiming for that A grade.

LR - See blog

2) Read the mark scheme for this exam carefully, paying particular attention to the 'indicative content' for each question. Firstly, focus on the unseen question and identify two aspects of the poster that you could have written about in your answer.

Q1 
  • Use of costume and props such as leather jackets/cat ears to construct teen stereotypes.
  • The use of the visual codes and iconographies such as the low key lighting and blue hue to show the thriller genre.
Q2
  • Capital - audience may understand the drama as realistic or symbolic, raising questions of encoding. 
  • Deutschland - Narrative structured around the use of oppositions to represent East and West Germany and their signifying values, these will be decoded differently depending on political perspectives and experience of the audience.

3) Look at the indicative content for Q1 again and make a note of any theories or examples of media terminology you could have used in your answer.

- Mulvey's male gaze
- Steve Neale genre theory of repetition and difference
- Gill female gaze

4) Now focus on the TV 25-marker. Read this exemplar response for the TV question and pick out three arguments, phrases or theories from the essay that you could use in a future question on Capital and Deutschland 83.
  • The Daily Mail’s review of capital described it as ‘more packed with left-wing causes than Jeremy Corbyn’s diary’ which suggests a preferred reading that is left-wing and socialist.
  • Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony is relevant here as it could be argued that Capital’s relentless focus on the importance of hard work, earning money and contributing to the London economy unconsciously reinforces capitalist ideology. Even Roger is presented sympathetically in certain scenes such as the ‘under the armpit’ close-up on the tube train as he commutes to the office and working on his laptop in bed late at night.
  • This fetishisation of the working class is relatively common in the creative industries and perhaps suggests the producers are deliberately encoding a pro-left-wing bias.

5) Finally, identify three things you need to revise for Media Paper 2 before your next assessment or mock exam.

- Political ideologies
- Genre theories
- Representation theories

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