Television Drama + Film Industry

GOOD LUCK!

2011-05-12T14:17:00.000+01:00

...in your revision, and for your exam on Tuesday

Remember to come to the exam warm up session in room 101 at 12.55

2011-04-26T14:58:00.002+01:00

FOLLOW THIS!

Tasks for Film Industry Unit (Audiences and Institutions)

2011-04-01T13:10:00.000+01:00

Things you should all be doing - NOW!

Know the basics of how the industry operates - follow Skill Set links below and spend some time looking at the Flash Storyboards and taking notes. Get more stats and info from Screenonline (run by the bfi) and the UK Film Council (who are, as of TODAY, handing over to the bfi)
Know your Working Title Case Study inside out - great powerpoint below - read it, take notes, analyse, do some extra research. What makes them such a success?
Immerse yourself in the world of cutting edge marketing by reading up and following links on the Dark Knight Case Study from Movie Marketing Madness. Great for viral marketing, ADRs and the changing nature of film audiences
Post comments to any of these posts with questions or opinion about these or any other films you think are interesting from either an audience of institutional perspective
Check out the revision powerpoint embedded in the post below this - very comprehensive...
Be prepared for snap tests in class to demonstrate your knowledge!

Shifty powerpoint - reblogged from Slideshare

2011-04-01T13:09:00.000+01:00

G322 Section B Shifty Case Study

View more presentations from Alleyn's School Media Studies Department

Revision powerpoint for Film Industry Unit

2011-04-01T13:08:00.000+01:00

Great resource on revision here - USE IT!

AS G322 revision booklet pt1 (Film Industry)

View more documents from Belinda Raji

Great Film Industry resource from Skill Set

2011-03-29T13:13:00.000+01:00

CLICK HERE!

Follow links on the right to 'The Business' - follow the storyboard.... to find out more about how the film biz works.

Dark Knight - case study

2011-03-28T11:17:00.000+01:00

Great detailed case study here on The Dark Knight, from Movie Marketing Madness.
Lots of links and video - extremely comprehensive. Read it!

Wrking Title and 'The Boat that Rocked' - presentation

2011-03-28T10:42:00.000+01:00

G322 Case Study - Working Title and The Boat That Rocked

View more presentations from Alleyn's School Media Studies Department

Reminder of Working Title tasks from last year

2010-12-07T16:52:00.000Z

Undertake some detailed research on Working Title Films. Who are they? Where are they based? When were they established? By whom? What, and when, was their breakthrough hit film? What sorts of films are they best known for? What are your favourites? (write these as a comment to this post) What are some of their more successful titles? Do they have any special relationships with certain writers or directors? What major awards have they recieved?

Read these articles (and print/take notes) from the bbc and The Guardian. Use their wikipedia entry and official website (have a look at the archive to get an idea of the variety in their work) and other internet resources. Also consider your own knowledge and understanding of Working Title Films.

Final big question:

How do you account for their continued success despite the regular forecasts of doom and gloom for the British film industry? Write at least one side of A4 on this question. Make at least five key points, use PEE and back up with specific examples from a range of films.

Start in lesson, finish for homework and hand in first media lesson next week.

Finally, your favourite Working Title films as comments to this post please...get some healthy debate going!

Termy terms...

2009-05-21T11:12:00.000+01:00

Here's some key vocab for use in your Section B question on Institutions and Audiences (British Film). Do you know them all? Can you get them all in to your response?

Working Title / Universal
FilmFour (both Digital TV channel and a production co)
BBC Films
Verve Pictures
UK Film Council - Development Fund , Premiere Fund, New Cinema Fund, P & A Fund
The Digital Screen Network
First Light Pictures
Skillset
BFI (British Film Institute)
Screenonline
Sight and Sound (magazine)
BBFC
Distribution (digital)
Licensing
Marketing (campaign)
Logistics
Vertical integration
Theatrical release
DVD/Video rights
TV rights
Blanket marketing
Staggered release
USP
Audience targeting
Multiplatform
Viral marketing
Social realism
Naturalistic
Super 16 / 35mm
Handheld/immediacy
Budget / production values
Semi-autobiographical
Fractured audiences

Web 2.0 / User generated content
Niche / mainstream audience
‘Specialist’ – ‘independent’
Digital / online age
BAFTA / BIFA
DCMS
Bullet Boy (Dibb, 2004)
This Is England (Meadows, 2006)
The Boat that Rocked (Curtis, 2009)

Shane Meadows - This Is England

2009-05-18T12:19:00.000+01:00

Follow the link below to a printable version of an excellent article published in Media Magazine entitled: Shane Meadows - a very British auteur.
Also of use are his official site, his britmovie biography page and the official This Is England site.

"Harvey, what kind of a name is Harvey?"

http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/download/archive_mm/_past_archive/mm21_meadows.html

‘a monster movie for the YouTube generation’

2009-05-18T09:44:00.000+01:00

Media Magazine article below about the marketing campaign behind JJ Abrams' (he directed the new Star Trek) film Cloverfield.

Makes interesting reading in terms of the ways in which new media, particularly viral marketing, is being used to build audience awareness for films.

You might find you can refer to this campaign in the exam. It does not matter that this is a hollywood film.

Post a comment - what do you think of this style of viral marketing? What advantages does it have for both institutions and audiences? What potential disadvantages does it have?

A Monster of a Marketing Campaign!
Constructed specifically as a ‘monster movie for the YouTube generation, Cloverfield built a viral marketing campaign – and its own audience – through an enigmatic teaser-trailer, word of mouth and a widget. Its innovative uses of an alternative reality, games and videocam techniques involve audiences in new and interactive ways. Steph Hendry explores the Cloverfield universe.
With a very low production budget in Hollywood terms (£15m), Cloverfield became an instant financial success making £22 million in its opening weekend. It is a recent example of the power of viral marketing (sometimes called user-generated marketing) to create audience interest before a film’s release and, most importantly, to get people into the cinema. Whether or not Cloverfield is a good film is up to you to decide (critics are divided); but it stands as a great example of the way modern marketers are using a range of methods to attempt to reach their audience and sell a film.
The film’s media language choice of an ‘eye-witness’ presentation of the story using a hand-held camera acts as a representation of our current technological age. Cloverfield’s marketing also makes use of recent developments in technology and changes in audience activity and behaviour to create and sustain interest. The director (Matt Reeves) called the film ‘a monster movie for the YouTube generation’ indicating that the producers of this film were specifically aware that their target audience were internet-literate young people. It is these people who have been the targets for the marketing campaign and have also been encouraged to be a part of it.
The first glimpse
The first anyone knew of the film was a teaser trailer shown before the 2007 summer blockbuster Transformers. The trailer did not name the film and only gave a release date after showing glimpses of an apparently home-made video of New York being attacked by ‘something’, culminating in the shocking image of the head of the Statue of Liberty crashing through a New York street. By creating memorable images and using an unconventional method to present the events, the filmmakers were using a tried-and-tested marketing device, the creation of enigma (mystery). Creating audience curiosity is a great way to generate interest in a product. Those who saw the trailer would have been left wondering what they had just seen: What genre was the film alluding to (Sci-Fi/Disaster/Monster)? Why was the footage they had been shown more like their own home-movies rather than a slick Hollywood production?
The trailer’s placement gives an indication of the target audience, one which is a difficult market for advertisers at the moment: teens and, more specifically, young adults. These groups are becoming hard to reach for advertisers who rely on conventional methods. Young adults tend not to watch TV on a predictable, regular basis and often have access to multi-channel cable television which fragments the audience across a range of channels. Devices like Sky+ mean they can record television programmes, watch them when they choose and fast-forward through any advertising. Alternative methods of viewing television programmes also make this audience hard to find. ‘On demand’, downloads and YouTube split the audience further and this is the generation that is likely to wait to buy television programmes and films on DVD rather than watch them in traditional settings surrounded by advertising. Alternative advertising methods were needed if Cloverfield was going to be able to attract the attention of the group of people who could be used to help make the film a success in the cinema. A specialised online and computer savvy audience was specifically targeted as their interaction with the marketing was vital in the film generating interest from another valuable audience group, the mainstream movie-goer. The story of Cloverfield’s marketing shows how the online audience was used to create a buzz about the film to support a more traditional marketing campaign.
Building the campaign
The teaser trailer provided one piece of important information, the name of the producer JJ Abrams. This would have created a number of genre expectations. Abrams is the creator of Alias and Lost and so the audience could expect an element of Sci-Fi/Horror within this film and might anticipate a narrative that was complex, fragmented and laden with ‘clues’ rather than explanations. Web searches after the teaser trailer led the audience to a website named only as the date of the film’s release (www.1-08-08.com). This site slowly released photos which were time and date stamped to allow the audience to build up chronological glimpses into the narrative of the film.
The enigma and the slow release of information were both constructed to encourage discussion online in blogs, social networks and chat rooms, which was how the real marketing took place via ‘word of mouth’. Web-chatter was heightened on the release of a poster showing a decapitated Statue of Liberty, a devastated New York and the release of a second, more detailed trailer. Still maintaining the mystery, the trailer’s exposition contained a chilling geographical marker identifying the location of events to be in the ‘area formally known as Central Park’. For the first time the film’s title was identified and the trailer was released online along with an official movie website (www.cloverfieldmovie.com) which eventually provided links to MySpace and Facebook pages ‘created’ by some of the characters from the film. These regularly updated pages created a real-time story which showed the characters moving towards the eventful night and provided a back-story to the film itself. The MySpace blog was where the film’s protagonist announced he was moving to Japan to take a new job at Slusho!, a Japanese soft drinks company, which explains why the film begins with a going away party.
In addition a widget was available for download from the website. This piece of software could be attached to MySpace pages, blogs etc. and contained the first five minutes of the film with an introduction by JJ Abrams. To download and use the widget people needed to register their contact details. This registration immediately entered people into a competition based on who managed to distribute the widget to the most people; a direct encouragement of more ‘word of mouth’ marketing.
Adverts were sent to mobile phones, traditional posters and TV slots were also used and the culmination of all these events was an increasing public and mainstream press awareness of the film. The campaign was creating a deep curiosity as so much information had been held back and the only way for the audience to gain answers to the questions the marketing raised was to go to the cinema to see the film. As the character Hud said in the second trailer, with this much interest it was almost inevitable that ‘people are gonna want to know how it all went down’.
But that’s not all...
Parallel to this campaign, a related story was being told through an ARG (alternative reality game). The ARG centred around a fictional Japanese company called Tagruato and its subsidiary Slusho! and only a few direct connections were made to the Cloverfield plot. Home pages for Slusho! and Tagruato were put online. The former ran a competition for audience members to create adverts for the frozen soft drink whose USP was its addictive nature (‘You can’t drink just six’) and the happiness it would bring its consumer. (Remember, Slusho! was the company the character Rob from the film was taking a job with.)
Tagruato‘s corporate homepage looks like a conventional business website – even down to experiencing hacks by ‘eco-terrorists’. It appeared that Slusho’s key ingredient, ‘seabed nectar’, might not be entirely safe. The site reported that a drilling rig in the Atlantic Ocean had been mysteriously destroyed. ‘TV reports’ based on mobile phone footage showed huge chunks of debris being hurled from the sinking rig although there was no explanation for this phenomenon. Pictures from the scene were added to www.1-01-08.com.
There’s more...
A Manhattan couple, ‘Jamie and Teddy’ set up a website to post video-blogs to stay in touch after Teddy had gone to Japan to work for Tagruato. Jamie assumed she had been dumped as she hadn’t heard from Teddy for over a month when she received a package containing a Tagurato baseball cap, something wrapped in tin-foil (which she was instructed not to eat) and a recorded message indicating Teddy was in some sort of trouble. Interpreting this as a sick practical joke, she assumed he had a new ‘skanky’ girlfriend and decided to eat the gooey product she received. Almost immediately she appears to become extremely intoxicated. Jamie makes a brief appearance in Cloverfield where the audience can glimpse her passed out on the sofa at Rob’s leaving do in the opening scene of the film.
Marketing + movie = more mystery
The addition of a number of back stories to the Cloverfield tale, without giving clear ideas of ‘cause and effect’ encourages the audience to attempt to build a story for themselves; first of all to attempt to make sense of the promotional material and, after watching the film, to supplement the limited information provided by the film’s highly restricted narration. The marketing has created a ‘Cloverfield universe’ bigger than the events of the 90-minute film, but has held back on providing enough information to give resolution to all the mysteries. The film’s story is told from the point of view of people who (just like the target audience) have very little information as to what is occurring around them; the characters just catch snippets of information in news reports and in conversations with the military (just like the audience). The viral marketing, the ARG and then the video-cam style presentation all enhance audience identification with the characters and this heightens the shocking nature of the events we witness with them in the film. The desire to make sense of the events unfolding within the film has been played on for both the interactive and mainstream audience but the filmmakers are still holding back vital pieces of information: What does Slusho! have to do with all of this? Where did the monster come from? Do the military manage to destroy the monster? Do any of the characters from the film survive?
Cloverfield 2
Could the actual film Cloverfield be just another element in a complex marketing campaign? Is the film an expensive advert for yet another product still to be made? There are online rumours already about a Cloverfield 2 with theories ranging from the sequel being told from another ‘victim’s’ perspective (plenty of people can be seen filming events in the film) or from a military or reporter’s point of view. Maybe Cloverfield 2 will be a standard blockbuster movie with omniscient narration and a solid resolution. At this point the ‘truth’ is irrelevant. What is important is that people are talking about a potential second film and so the viral campaign has already begun.

Definitions

ARG – alternative reality game: A set of interlinked sources, mostly websites, along with voicemails, scavenger hunts and even novels, which shed light on a hidden story. ARGs challenge players to make connections and solve puzzles to piece together a ‘distributed narrative’.

Widget: A piece of software that can be used to embed content into a web page.

Steph Hendry is an advanced lecturer and course leader at Runshaw College, Letyland. She is an examiner for AQA Media Studies, and a freelance trainer.

First published in MediaMagazine 24, April 2008.

Media Magazine film resources

2009-05-17T16:51:00.000+01:00

The Media Magazine archive is a great resource for revision.

http://www.mediamagazine.org.uk/

Logins and passwords were given out in lesson. They now have a number of very good clips hyperlinked off the main page.

Professor David Buckingham talking about representations and stereotypes / representations and realism is a good place to start.

Dr. Julian McDougall has some excellent introductory clips on Web 2.0 and postmodernism.

Go! Watch and learn!!

Clips

2009-05-13T13:12:00.000+01:00

There are literally thousands of TV Drama clips on YouTube that you could use to hone your textual analysis skills and revise for the exam. Remember to use as much correct technical media terminology as possible as well as providing plenty of examples in a clear and cogent way.....easy!

Here's a couple you could use...

BLEAK HOUSE

SHAMELESS

The Hamburg Cell

Mark schemes

2009-05-13T12:36:00.000+01:00

Here's a link to the mark schemes for both SECTION A (Textual Analysis - TV Drama) and SECTION B (Institutions and Audiences - Film Industry) of your exam:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/assessment_materials/AS_Level_Media_Studies_SAM_Unit_G322.pdf

Below is a copy of Level 3 and Level 4 of the Mark Schemes, for both questions. You should all be aiming for these grade bands!!

The purpose of these Units is to firstly assess candidates’ media textual analysis skills and their understanding of the concept of representation using a short unseen moving image extract secondly to assess candidates’ knowledge and knowledge of media institutions and their production processes, distribution strategies, use of technologies and related issues concerning audience reception and consumption of media texts.

Candidates will be assessed on their ability to understand how representations are constructed in a media text through the analysis of different technical areas. Assessment will take place across three criteria:
• Explanation/analysis/argument (20 marks)
• Use of examples (20 marks)
• Use of terminology (10 marks)

Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation (Unseen moving image extract)
Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representations of gender using the following:
• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise- en-scene

Level 3
Explanation/analysis/argument (12-15 marks)
• Shows proficient understanding of the task
• Proficient knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects used in the extract
• Proficient discussion of the extract’s representations, mostly linked to textual analysis
• Mostly relevant to set question
Use of examples (12-15 marks)
• Offers consistent textual evidence from the extract
• Offers a range of examples (at least three technical areas covered)
• Offers examples which are mostly relevant to the set question
Use of terminology (6-7 marks)
• Use of terminology is mostly accurate

Relatively straight forward ideas have been expressed with some clarity
and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the
point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation
and grammar, but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure meaning.

Level 4
Explanation/analysis/argument (16-20 marks)
• Shows excellent understanding of the task
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects used in the extract
• Excellent discussion of the extract’s representations, clearly linked to textual analysis
• Clearly relevant to set question
Use of examples (16-20 marks)
• Offers frequent textual analysis from the extract – award marks to reflect the range and appropriateness of examples
• Offers a full range of examples from each technical area
• Offers examples which are clearly relevant to the set question
Use of terminology (8-10 marks)
• Use of terminology is relevant and accurate

Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a style of
writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences and
paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Section B: Institutions and Audiences
Discuss the issues raised by institutions’ need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied.
Candidates will be assessed on their ability to illustrate patterns of production, distribution, exchange and consumption through relevant case study examples and their own experiences.
Candidates may cover the following material in their responses to the question:
• Production practices which allow texts to be constructed for specific audiences
• Distribution and marketing strategies to raise audience awareness of specific products or types of products
• The use of new technology to facilitate more accurate targeting of specific audiences
• Audience strategies in facilitating or challenging institutional practices
Candidates should be given credit for their knowledge and understanding, illustrated through case study material, in any of these areas; there is no requirement that they should all be covered equally. Examiners should also be prepared to allow points, examples and arguments that have not been considered if they are relevant and justified.

Level 3
Explanation/analysis/argument (12-15 marks)
• Shows proficient understanding of the task
• Proficient knowledge and understanding of institutional/audience practices – factual knowledge is mostly accurate
• Some developed argument, supported by reference to case study material
• Mostly relevant to set question
Use of examples (12-15 marks)
• Offers consistent evidence from case study material
• Offers a range of examples from case study and own experience
• Offers examples which are mostly relevant to the set question
Use of terminology (6-7 marks)
• Use of terminology is mostly accurate

Relatively straight forward ideas have been expressed with some clarity
and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the
point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation
and grammar, but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure meaning .

Level 4
Explanation/analysis/argument (16-20 marks)
• Shows excellent understanding of the task
• Excellent knowledge and understanding of institutional/audience practices – factual knowledge is relevant and accurate
• A clear and developed argument, substantiated by detailed reference to case study material
• Clearly relevant to set question
Use of examples (16-20 marks)
• Offers frequent evidence from case study material – award marks to reflect the range and appropriateness of examples
• Offers a full range of examples from case study and own experience
• Offers examples which are clearly relevant to the set question
Use of terminology (8-10 marks)
• Use of terminology is relevant and accurate

Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a style of
writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences and
paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Exemplar scripts for exam

2009-05-13T12:21:00.000+01:00

Follow link below for some exemplar scripts. Useful to see how the marker works and the quality of writing. Both are higher level responses:

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/support_materials/gce_media_studies_unit_g322_exemplar_answer_cand_a_high.pdf

http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/support_materials/gce_media_studies_unit_g322_exemplar_answer_cand_b_high.pdf

Remember, credit is awarded to students at three different levels for the TV Drama:

Explanation, Analysis and Argument (20 Marks)
Use of Examples (20 Marks)
Use of Terminology (10 Marks)

Examiners Report and OCR links

2009-05-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

You will find the full report, from the OCR website, here:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/reports_2009/A_Level_Media_Studies_CER_Jan_09.pdf

Here is the full specification:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Data/publications/key_documents/AS_ALevel_GCE_Media_Studies_Specification.pdf
All of OCR's documents pertaining to the NEW spec A Level are here:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/asa_levelgceforfirstteachingin2008/mediastudies/documents.html

Below are a few things picked out from the examiners report from Jan 2009 that are worth considering:

Question 1 – Television drama
Candidates structured their responses in a number of ways; some began by addressing the concept of representation in the extract and a discussion of the representational differences between Amy McDougall the stereotypical teenager and contrasted this with the Headteacher and the middle-aged character Paul Macdonald. Then the candidates would address the technical areas one by one. Stronger candidates could provide an integrated analysis of the extract through analysis of key examples identified. These candidates explored how the technical features could be applied using a combination of the technical features, for example, in discussion of the argument between Paul Macdonald and Amy. They could then place this sequence of conflict in it’s mise en scène (the stately home), through the use of shot reverse shot (editing), shot types used and through sound, both diegetic and non diegetic in discussion of how Paul’s anger and authority, used as parental control, would order Amy (stereotyped as the teenage tear away) back to school.
Either of these approaches to the structure of question 1 is advisable and centres need to help structure the candidates’ responses in the classroom. Candidates are advised against lengthy introductions about what they are going to say and against theoretical introductions and/ or historical contexts to television drama. Candidates are advised to get straight on with their analysis.
It is also important that candidates move from description of key technical areas to analysis of how representations are constructed. This will enable candidates to achieve higher marks for their responses. The mark scheme enables credit to be awarded to students at three different levels Explanation, Analysis and Argument (20 Marks), Use of Examples (20 Marks) and Use of Terminology (10 Marks). Centres are advised to make the mark scheme available to candidates for the summer session so that they are aware of how the work is assessed. This could also be used for the marking of timed assignments in the classroom and for the marking of mock exam papers.
Camera Shot, Angle and Composition
This technical feature was well addressed by the candidates.. Where candidates used the correct terminology and could describe shot composition, this on the whole was well done. Weaker candidates were able to describe key shots used in exemplification, but would often lack explicit links to how these shots assisted in the construction of the representation of age.
Mise en scène
There was plenty of evidence of candidates’ discussion of clothing and props, visual iconography and character Setting, although a little more problematic for some, was used well in discussion of the range of representations of age used in the extract. More able candidates would move beyond description and use the technical features of mise en scène in order to discuss the signification of the representation of age.
Sound
Candidates often discussed this technical feature with some limitations, with some focusing solely on the use of dialogue or accent. Candidates did also relate the use of non diegetic sound to the emotional state of Amy whilst she was in her room and the contrast of non diegetic music showing the adults to be happy in the work they performed. The use of non-diegetic sound to emphasise Amy’s isolation was often commented on, as was the diction of the middle-aged characters that spoke "properly". Other weaker candidates showed confusion with technical terminology, getting diegetic and non-diegetic sound the wrong way round. It is advised that centre’s do cover the technical features of sound thoroughly in order to give candidates an opportunity to fully engage with the analysis of the extract.
Editing
This proved to be the most problematic for candidates and the one technical area of analysis that was often omitted in candidate’s answers. Most candidates who addressed editing were able to address the type of transitions used and could comment on the pace of the editing. Weaker candidates often omitted any discussion of editing or offered quite simplistic accounts of how editing was used, for example in the use of quick succession cuts and short takes when the community takes apart the fishing hut at the end of the sequence. More able candidates could analyse technical issues of editing by way of analysis of the ellipsis, accounting for how the extract collapsed a series of events, for example, in explaining the narrative to represent Amy as a ‘troubled’ teenager who had no option left but to run away from school and then the home of Paul McDonald; then candidates were then able to comment on pacing, the use of continuity, most often through the shot reverse shot compositions in the extract and some through the use of sound as well. These candidates cleverly discussed how soundbridges were constructed through the use of non-diegetic music in the representation of age, for example, the stringed mood music representing the gloomy prospect that Amy faces, or the use of upbeat music to represent the happiness of the small rural community.
The advice offered to centres is to encourage as much practice on the concept of editing as possible and how this assists in the construction of representation. Again begin with identifying the techniques and encourage students to apply these to a range of examples in class and importantly, test them on this
Representation
This key media concept was either addressed at the beginning of the candidates or at the end, but sometimes when at the end, the analysis was all too cursory. Candidates were able to relate the representation of a variety of age groups closely to the textual elements of the extract. There was some solid analysis of age and how it can be stereotyped in a variety of ways: teenage emotionality; adult authority; caring nature of the older female adult and other sensibly reasoned representations. Weaker candidates failed to focus on the representation of age, relating their analysis to the region or the gender of the characters.

General Comments on Question 2
Although the question was a wide one, many candidates still failed to focus their discussion and case study material on the production and distribution phases of media production. The best answers showed awareness of the ways in which institutions shape and distribute products in order to meet the demands of their audiences and to make profit; they were able to illustrate this with detailed reference to case study material.
Those candidates who could use their case studies and really focus on the question rather than simply regurgitating the whole case study, wrote some interesting and well founded answers. One centre on video games provided some good examples of case studies and the candidates had obviously been thoroughly prepared. The case study provided enough depth, by looking at three manufacturers and individual games developers, for the candidates to show a breadth of understanding in their answers. Overall the best candidates related closely to the focus of the question, writing about the relationship between audience and industry with particular emphasis on the production and distribution side of the industry. Centres are advised to refer to and use the questions on page 20 of the Specification and to ensure coverage of key institutional concepts such as synergy, cross media convergence, media technologies and audience consumption. This will aid the candidates’ conceptual understanding of institutions and audiences. It is also necessary for candidates to address the question set, rather than offer a general address of institutional practices across the board.
The most popular media areas studied were film and music, the least were newspapers and radio.
Film Industry
Popular case studies included the study of UK film companies such as Working Title and Film Four, which provided plenty of promising material, particularly when their working practices were contrasted with Hollywood equivalents. Some centres had prepared candidates for this unit with single text studies (i.e. of an individual film), which clearly did not provide candidates with sufficient knowledge of wider institutional and audience contexts to tackle the question set. Institutional questions, which dealt with a comparison of successful American institutions versus less commercially successful home grown UK industries often worked well. The contrast of a large US studio like Time Warner versus DNA Films was useful. Candidates with an entirely British view, Working Title on its own, or Big Arty Productions and independent British film making, for example, Bullet Boy and ‘This is England’ also fared very well, but would benefit with some comparison to Hollywood practice. Examiners noted that up to date referencing of the new boom in 3D films was done very well by one or two centres and candidates were able to discuss the download of movies through home communication networks and the impact of Blue Ray DVD on film consumption.

Advice offered for the summer’s exam session:
Do encourage students to link analysis of the technical features of television and radio drama to the key concept being examined
•
Ensure that all the technical elements are covered and that a discussion of the key concept takes place
•
Avoid lengthy introductions on context or misapplied theory
•
Candidates should time manage responses carefully to avoid brief answers, particularly for question 2
•
For question 2 candidates need to address the question set
•
Encourage candidates to use a wide range of contemporary examples
•
Do cover all the possible issues of an institution and its audience
•
Encourage candidates to use plenty of exemplification