2. Section B: Contemporary Media Issues One question to be answered from a choice of six topic areas offered by OCR. There will be two questions from each topic area. The topic areas require understanding of contemporary media texts, industries, audiences and debates. Candidates must choose one of the following topic areas, in advance of the examination and, through specific case studies, texts, debates and research of the candidates’ choice, prepare to demonstrate understanding of the contemporary issue. This understanding must combine knowledge of at least 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 will be generic, allowing for the broadest possible range of responses within the topic area chosen. Each topic is accompanied by four prompt questions, and candidates must be prepared to answer an exam question that relates to one or more of these four prompts. There should be emphasis on the historical, the contemporary and the future in relation to the chosen topic, with most attention on the present. Candidates may choose to focus on one of the following contemporary media issues: Contemporary Media Regulation Global Media Media and Collective Identity Media in the Online Age Post-modern Media ‘We Media’ and Democracy
3. Media and Collective Identity How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in different ways? How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods? What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people? To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’? Candidates might explore combinations of any media representation across two media, or two different representations across two media. Some examples are: National cinema, television representations, magazines and gender, representations of youth and youthculture, post-9/11 representations of Islam, absence / presence of people with disability in two media.
4. What does it mean to be British? What things do we associate with Britain? Put things under the following headings: Food and Drink Sports Culture (TV, Film, Music etc) Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Landmarks Language / Phrases
7. Defining British Film The British Film Institute divides films into the following categories: Category A: films made with British money, personnel and resources Category B: films co-funded with money from Britain and from foreign investment, but the majority of finance, cultural content & personnel are British
8. Defining British Film Category C: films with mostly foreign (but non-USA) investment and a small British input, either financially or creatively Category D: films made in the UK with (usually) British cultural content, but financed fully or partly by American companies Category E: American films with some British involvement
11. Unfortunately, the British film industry has never been capable of generating worldwide commercial success on its own. This is partly down to the major power, success and control of…
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13. The basic fact is that the British cinema market is too small for the British film industry to successfully produce Hollywood-style blockbusters over a sustained period Hollywood UK Film Industry
14. Task… In pairs you will be given a decade from the 30s to the 00s You will produce a short presentation about British Cinema in your decade You must look at extracts from at least 2 of the major films from your time period Who produced them? Who directed them? Who starred in them? What genre of films were they? Were these type of films popular during that decade and if so why? How commercially & financially successful were British films during this time? Can you find any stats and facts to back this up? Were there any government laws or acts passed during your 10 year period that were designed to help the British film industry?
