1. Question 1a – Skills and Processes You must discuss two pieces of coursework in order
to show progression and development of skills.

2. Conventions of real media texts Post-Production Research and Planning Digital Technology
Explain how you have used, developed Discuss the decisions you made during How did your Research and Planning How has digital technology aided your
or challenged conventions of real media post-production of two pieces of inform your production? (GDS) creativity to during your coursework
products. (GDS) coursework. productions? (GDS)
Evaluate how you creatively drew upon Discuss the ways in which you have Describe how you developed research “Digital technology turns media
and/ or developed conventions of real exercised creativity during post- and planning skills for media production consumers into media producers”. In your
media products. production? and evaluate how these skills contributed own experience, how has your creativity
to creative decision making. Refer to a
 In what ways have your productions range of examples in your answer to developed through using digital
used or developed conventions show how these skills developed over technology to complete your coursework
adopted from real media products? time. (Jan10) productions? (Exam board example)
 How much of your text was ‘created’
 In what ways have your productions in post-production?  How has digital technology helped
challenged or played with
conventions adopted from real media
 What technologies did you use to you to capture your ideas?
modify your raw material? How did  What benefits do digital technologies
products? offer over analogue? Are there any
 In other words, is your work generic, this change the meaning of your
work? disadvantages?
or experimental – or both?
 Some media producers adopt a style  What transitions/ effects did you  How did digital technology influence
of working that is quite distinctive – apply during post-production? How your work in pre-production,
explore how work you have did you manipulate narrative/ production, and post-production?
produced may have been influenced colours/ lighting/ contrast/ brightness/  How have your skills with digital
by your own favourite producers/ sound etc during the edit? technology developed, and how has
directors/ designers/ publishers. Do  How much of your footage ended up this influenced your productions?
you have a ‘style’? Are you an ‘on the cutting room floor’ (unused)  What role might digital technology
auteur? and why? plan in the distribution of your work?
 What would Andrew Goodwin say  How is digital technology changing
about your work? media production?
  How did your research into genre
contribute to your production work?
 How did your research into audience
contribute to your production work?
 How did your research into
institutions responsible for the
production and regulation of the
media influence your production
work?
 What pre-production planning
techniques did you employ (scripting,
storyboarding, shot-listing, flat-
planning etc.)? How effective was
your planning – how did it help you in
the production phase?
 What did you learn from planning
your first production that helped you
to improve your planning for the
second?
 How did you use audience feedback
to influence your production work
while it was in progress?
Creativity
You will not get a question on creativity on its own. Creativity is ONLY used in conjunction with one of the other key areas. (GDS)
 What features of your work would you say are original to you?

3. Question 1b – Concepts
Media Language Genre Audience
“Media is communication.” Discuss the ways that you “Media texts rely on audience knowledge of generic “Media texts will never be successful unless they are
have used media language to create meanings in one of codes and conventions in order for them to create carefully constructed to target established audience
your media products. meaning.” Explain how you have used or subverted needs or desires.” Evaluate the ways that you
 ‘Media language’ means the language of the generic conventions in one of your production pieces. constructed your media text to target a specific
medium you are working within. For example, there audience.
is a language of film which is different to the
language of music video/ television drama etc. This
is different to genre: genre can cut across media
(e.g. a sci-fi film/ TV programme/ music video (!)).
 How are you using the language of the medium?
 How have you used the language of music videos/
film openings/ digipaks/ magazine adverts?
 What would Andrew Goodwin say about your music
video?
• How useful is the concept of genre in understanding
your work?
• How can genre be used to understand music
videos, and how is this different to genre and
(thriller) films?
• How is your work intertextual? How does it fit in with
other music videos?
• How is your production conventional of the genre?
• Why is genre useful to you as a media producer/
useful to audiences?
• Genre theorists you have quotes from: Gunther
Kress, Denis McQuail, Nicholas Abercrombie,
Christine Gledhill, Katie Wales, John Fiske. Jacques
Derrida: “A text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot
be without... a genre. Every text participates in one
or several genres, there is no genreless text.”
• How could you use the theories to discuss genre
and understand your production?
• What would Andrew Goodwin say about your work
in terms of genre?
• Genres change and evolve (see Christian Metz and
David Buckingham). How is your production using/
developing the genre?

4. • How useful is the concept of audience in
understanding your work?
• Who is your target audience? How did you develop
your target audience? How does your production
appeal to your target audience?
• How useful are various segmentation models to
describe your target audience? Demographics?
 Psychographics? Findyourtribe?
• Consider theorists and theories such as: Stuart Hall:
Encoding and Decoding; Preferred/ negotiated/
oppositional readings; Denis McQuail – (Uses and
Gratification theory); Ien Ang - “Audiencehood is
becoming an even more multifaceted, fragmented
and diversified repertoire of practices and
experiences.”; Hypodermic Needle Theory
Narrative Representation
“Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions. (Jan10)
of narratives”. Explain how you used conventional and / or experimental narrative “Representations in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies
approaches in one of your production pieces. (Exam Board Example) so that audiences can make sense of them.” Evaluate the ways that you have used/
challenged simplistic representations in one of the media products you have
produced.
• How useful is the concept of narrative in understanding your work?
• How is narrative and music videos different to narrative and film?
• How is your narrative structured? (convergent/ parallel/ circular/ linear/ non-linear/  How does your video represent different social groups/ people/ places/ lifestyles?
interweaving/ fragmented/ impressionist…?) How did you use chapters/phases? What values/ ideologies are you representing/ promoting?
• What pleasure(s) does your narrative offer the audience?  Does your production create a hegemonic representation/ does it represent and
• How do you use characters in your narrative? How have you used protagonists/ reinforce the dominant ideology?
antagonists? Is Vladimir Propp useful to understand your production?  What positive/ negative/ stereotypical connotations and representations are you
• Some theorists and theories you may be able to apply: Story versus plot; Tzetvan constructing/ using/ challenging?
Todorov (equilibrium etc); Claude Levi-Strauss (binary opposition); Roland  How are the representations in your production the products of your own cultural
Barthes (Enigma code; Action code. Also, Open and Closed texts); Pam Cook; experience/ background/ ideology/ values?
Noam Chomsky (narrative is fundamental to human understanding)  What would Laura Mulvey say about your production?
• How does the narrative structure/ ending shape the meaning of your production?

5. Section B: Media and Collective identity
There are four areas you need to understand in preparing for the exam:
1. How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups
of people in different ways?
a. How are young people/ males/ females/ gay people/ Northerners/ any social group represented?
Discuss how the representations use stereotypes; are the representations hegemonic/ reinforcing
dominant ideologies; do they challenge hegemony; are they represented as heterogenous/
homogenous; how could terms and phrases like Female solidarity/ teen solidarity/ male solidarity,
Constructed certitude, Consciously cultivated (fe)male bond/ teen bond, Socialisation, Binary,
Plurality, Femininities/ masculinities be useful in discussing the representations?; Who are these
representations aimed at, and how does this affect the way the group are represented?; Who is
creating these representations?; How are different social groups represented in the media industry, as
well as by the media?; What is the purpose of these representations?; How does the media construct
representations of groups of people?; How is collective identity constructed?
2. How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?
a. Compare recent texts (last 4 years) to past texts in terms of the ideas in question 1. What differences/
similarities are there?;
3. What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?
a. What impact does the media have on audiences’ sense of identity?; How do audiences respond to/
use media representations?; To what extent are audiences active in constructing their own sense of
identity?; How useful are Uses and Gratification theory/ Hypodermic Needle Theory/ Cultivation
theory in understanding audiences’ responses to media representations?; Does the media reflect or
shape our sense of who we are?
4. To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?
a. Does the media reflect or shape our sense of who we are?; Is the media increasingly important in how
we shape our identity?; How powerful is the media in shaping/ helping us to shape who we are?
In the exam you:
b. have a choice of two questions
c. have 60 minutes to answer the ‘Collective identity’ question
d. MUST write about two media (e.g. film and magazines. It doesn’t need to be even between the two
media, so could be 90% on one and 10% on the other)
e. Must include theory or theorists and apply them to your case studies
f. Should be able to discuss past, present and future
We have looked at collective identity in terms of teen/ youth and gender. Other schools will have looked at all
sorts (e.g. Africans; Muslims; Northerners; the working class…). The exam question will be broad enough so
that you can write about whatever area you have studied.
_______________________________________________________________
These are the kind of questions you will be asked.
1. Discuss the contemporary representation of a nation, region or social group in the media, using specific
textual examples from at least two media to support your answer. (Exam Board Sample)
2. How far does the representation of a particular social group change over time? Refer to at least two
media in your answer. (Exam Board Sample)
3. Looking at two media, describe the ways in which a particular group of people are collectively
represented or provided for, using specific examples to support your response. (Textbook)
4. Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of people that you have studied. (Jan 2010)
5. “The media do not construct collective identity; they merely reflect it”. Discuss. (Jan 2010)
A couple of bonus ideas:
6. To what extent do audiences use media to construct their own sense of collective identity?
7. “The media has replaced family, society and religion as the main source of collective identity.” Discuss.

6. G325 Critical Perspective in Media – Information from the Exam Board
The purpose of this unit is to assess candidates’ knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates, through their understanding of
one contemporary media issue and their ability to evaluate their own practical work in reflective and theoretical ways.
The examination is two hours. Candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions, on their own production work, and one question from a choice of six
topic areas. The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on production work marked out of 25 each, and the media theory question marked out
of 50.
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production (50 marks)
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues (50 marks)
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production necessarily always fit easily and in an orthodox way. Thus in some cases
Candidates answer two compulsory questions. The first requires them to candidates will be describing their productions in terms of them not relating
describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their straightforwardly to the concept. For example, a candidate producing three
production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The second websites over their two portfolios might describe ways in which websites cannot
asks them to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical be understood easily through applying conventional narrative theory. Whether
concept. the candidate applies the concept to the product or uses the production to
challenge the concept, it is essential that candidates are sufficiently
Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills knowledgeable about the concept for either approach. Candidates may choose
development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to write about work undertaken at AS or A2, main task or preliminary/ancillary.
to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this evaluation must be on skills
development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two Section B: Contemporary Media Issues
specific production practices. The list of practices to which questions will relate One question to be answered from a choice of six topic areas offered by OCR.
is as follows: There will be two questions from each topic area.
 Digital Technology The topic areas require understanding of contemporary media texts, industries,
 Research and planning audiences and debates.
 Post-production
 Using conventions from real media texts Candidates must choose one of the following topic areas, in advance of the
 Creativity (will only be asked alongside one of the other categories) examination and, through specific case studies, texts, debates and research of
Questions will be posed using one or two of these categories. the candidates’ choice, prepare to demonstrate understanding of the
Where candidates have produced relevant work outside the context of their A contemporary issue. This understanding must combine knowledge of at least
Level media course, they are free to additionally refer to this experience. two media and a range of texts, industries, audiences and debates, but these
are to be selected by the centre / candidate. The assessment of the response
Question 1(b) requires candidates to select one production and evaluate it in will be generic, allowing for the broadest possible range of responses within the
relation to a media concept. The list of concepts to which questions will relate is topic area chosen. Each topic is accompanied by four prompt questions, and
as follows: candidates must be prepared to answer an exam question that relates to one or
 Genre more of these four prompts. There should be emphasis on the historical, the
 Narrative contemporary and the future in relation to the chosen topic, with most attention
 Representation on the present. The categories of contemporary media issues are:
 Audience
 Media language  Contemporary Media Regulation
 Global Media
In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.  Media and Collective Identity
In some circumstances, candidates will be expected to select the production  Media in the Online Age
that appears to relate most effectively to the specific concept that arises in the  Post-modern Media
exam question. However, the requirement for candidates to evaluate one of  ‘We Media’ and Democracy
their productions in relation to a concept does not assume that the concept will