A2 Media Exam – Practice Questions

Here are some fairly straightforward revision questions, aimed at helping you revise the key terminology.  Answer each question in full sentences

Text One:  VW Passat Advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0

1.       How does the advert use intertextuality?

2.       What is the narrative of the advert?

3.       Why do you think this advert was so popular on YouTube?

Text Two:  Quicktrim Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q69Igo7xcGA

1.       How does the advert represent women?

2.       What aspirations does this advert offer its audience?

3.       What do you think is the relationship between the product and the celebrities endorsing it?

Text Three:  T Mobile Royal Wedding http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug

1.       What techniques does the advert use in order to appear “real”

2.       How does the advert use contrast for comic effect?

3.       Why is viral advertising a good idea?

Text Four:  Climate Change Advert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD2WTK94c1U

1.       How does the advert imitate the conventions of a fairytale narrative?

2.       Who is the target audience for this advert?

3.       This advert received 989 complaints to the ASA (Advertising Standards Agency).  Why do you think this was?

Text Five:  Summary of CBS news broadcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu-I23rn_TU

1.       How does the text use the expected conventions of a news broadcast?

2.       What are the events of the Newscorp scandal as outlined by the advert?

3.       Do you think the News of the World should have been closed down?

Useful documentary about the News of the World scandal.  (This is different to the one I suggested you watch in class but better as more current)

Documentary about Rupert Murdoch: 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6737097743434902428#

Media Texts for A2 Practice Paper

Media texts for A2 Practice Paper January 2012

Media Product One:  Advert for DJ Hero 2

Media Product Two:  Advert for XBox 360 Kinect

Exam Section A: Writing about Representation

The word banks that I stuck on the wall in IT1 suggest some of the key things you might want to mention.  Here they are.  I have put each on into a couple of sentences for you (key words are in bold):

Representation

This media text represents recognisable stereotypes, for example…

The way the subject is represented in this media text is not stereotypical because…

There are clear ideologies represented in this media text such as…

This media text represents a very ideological view of the subject matter due to…

This media text gives a very positive representation of the subject matter by…

In this media text the subject is represented in a very negative way through the use of…

The way gender is represented in this media text is interesting because…

This media text represents people of different ethnicities, for example…

Age is represented in an unusual way in this media text because…

The representations in this media text represent globalisation through the use of…

There are a variety of cross-cultural references represented in this media text, such as…

The representations in this media text are very traditional because…

As you can see, I have deliberately used the word represent or representation in each of these sentences to help the examiner see that I am focusing on the key concept.  Each sentence also encourages me to go on to use an example from the media text to support my point.

Using these sentences to answer a question

Have a look at this (rather shocking but genuine) Burger King advert:

Here is a paragraph about representation using some of the sentences above:

This media text represents recognisable stereotypes, for example the stereotype of a blonde woman being ‘stupid’ is suggested by the slogan “It’ll blow your mind away” and the vacant expression on the face of the blonde woman in the image.  The way gender is represented in this media text is interesting because the image of the woman is highly sexualised – it is implied that the women is performing a sex act.  The copy at the bottom of the advert also support this idea with the words “Fill your desire for something long, juicy…”.  This media text offers an alternative representation of the subject matter by including this provocative idea as big global brands such as Burger King and McDonalds are usually more associated with traditional family values but this print advert is quite controversial and some people would definitely find it offensive.

TASK

Use the sentence starters to help you write a paragraph about each of these media texts:

1.  Front page of The Sun



2.  Advert for Nike Women:

3.  Website for the Royal Marines:

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/royalmarines

Exam Section A: How is it marked?

How is it marked?

All examinations are now marked on the computer.  The examiner will get a scan of your exam paper on the screen and will use a series of annotations to mark where you have done well.  The more of these annotations the examiner can include, the better the mark you will get.

Here are the annotations that the examiner can include:

R         Comment on representation

A          Comment on audience

Inst      Comment on institutions

G         Comment on genre

N         Comment on narrative

V/I       Comment on values or ideologies

ü  Good point made

üü  Very good point made

Eg        Example/Illustration used to back up a point

Egü Good Example/Illustration used to back up a point

Ex        Further explanation of a point

T          Terminology used

Th        Theories/Ideas/Debates/Issues identified

F          Clear focus on question

The examiner can also include negative marks when you have done things badly.  You want to avoid getting any of these on your paper.

Here are those annotations:

Eg?      Needs an example to support the point

Ex?      Needs further explanation

Rept    Repetition of the same point

I           Irrelevant – nothing to do with the question

?          Query or Questionable Point

Desc    Describing the text without analysing

Remember that Roland Barthes chap?...

Well done to Harry, Pierre and Stephen for submitting responses.  Where the hell are the rest of you?  I am not very impressed!

To Harry, Pierre and Stephen; you may remember the lesson we did towards the end of last term on Barthes ideas on deconstruction.  This is a good one to "slip in" to your Question 1 response in order to get a little tick for media theory - you are all deconstructing the media texts you are analysing; just be specific about it. 

Here is an example for each of you:

Pierre - first paragraph of your Sucker Punch essay:

The film has arguably a huge audience capability. By deconstructing the text in the manner suggested by Roland Barthes we can see that it’s targeted towards women by using mainly teenage girls throughout the entire trailer. In a male dominated genre such as action, a female orientated film may seem like a special exception because women will be able to relate to it easier. It’s possible that they relate to the character, because of the non dietetic voiceover at 0:07 seconds of “I lost everyone I ever love, then the locked me away”. This casts a narrative early on and since the character is victimized, there is sympathy generated from the female audience. This may encourage that part of the audience to go and watch the film because they want to see how the story ends. It also appeals to males in general because of the action genre itself; there are frequent explosions throughout the video and constant close ups of the sword. The explosions are a frequently used convention of the action/thriller genre, this may appeal to the more war orientated interests of men, thus making the film more appealing. Another convention that is used is that it uses the “best bits” of the film, this shows the audience what the film is capable of and makes the trailer a visually pleasing experience, and this is proven by the huge amount of action snips throughout the video. By using snips of action scenes, it makes the audience more interested in watching the full scene rather then a collection of short images.

Stevie - Sucker Punch

In order to understand how this trailer uses media language to engage the audience it is first necessary to deconstruct it.  The trailer engages the audience by firstly using non-diagetic sounds of the main character explaining a little about the plot of the film and what has happened to her. This instantly gets the viewers attention because the viewer wants to know about the film. There is also non-diagetic sound when the rhythmic music is playing and when a man is talking over the action about what they have to do (the five tasks). In the trailer you can see the impressive special effect. This impresses the viewer and urges them to watch more of the trailer. During the trailer there is a series of fast paced cuts with explosions and text to help you learn about the plot. Nearer the end of the trailer there is some very rhythmic music which gives the impressions of a very upbeat futuristic action film. Right at the end it says when the film is coming out and who it is by.

Harry - Compare the Market

The advertisement stereotypes the conventions of an epic war movie. By using Roland Barthes theory of deconstruction, however, we can see how the different elements of this genre are used to comedic effect.  When the scenario is presented in the advertisement, there is a transition from a full screen format to a wide screen format, which is almost always used in all war movies. Non Diegetic sound is introduced, as the use of string based music is used to create the ‘epic’ atmosphere. This is presented comically as the setting and mood is presented in a very serious manner, but the characters involved are mongooses and meerkats. Throughout the advertisement, the seriousness is maintained – save from one part where there is a comic play on the death of a hero in a typical war movie – while involving a silly scenario and talking animals.