Mock Exam - Learner Response

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

WWW: Clear writing, well structured and concise 
EBI: Section A answers need to be more developed with more examples   

2) Did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade for A2 Media? If not, how many additional marks do you need across Section A and Section B to achieve your target grade?

Grade boundaries for complete paper (out of 80): 

A* = 75; A = 65; B = 55; C = 45; D = 36; E = 25.

I did not meet my target grade.  I needed 7 extra marks across Section A and B to meet my minimum target grade. 

3) Read through the mark scheme. Pay particular attention to pages 6-8 that have suggested content for each of the questions in Section A. How many of these potential points did you make? Did you successfully answer the questions? The original question paper is here if that is helpful.

Q1 -  Suggested Content
POINTS I MADE
POINTS REFERRED TO
POINTS NOT MENTIONED

• Use of narrative voiceover

• Use of soundtrack to establish tone

• Use of self-contained narrative that resembles a Hollywood film

• Use of differing production values

• Use of direct address

• Use of hand-held camera to suggest immediacy

• Use of interviews involving residents in New Era estate

• Role of Russell Brand as celebrity figure

Q2 - Suggested Content

POINTS I MADE

POINTS I REFERRED TO

POINTS NOT MENTIONED

• Development of coherent set of values and beliefs that can be seen in all products created by individual institutions

• Use of language to establish authority

• High production values to establish tone, mood and atmosphere

• Repetition of values, meaning that dissenting voices don't often get heard

• Moderation of feedback by media producers 

• Limited opportunity for audiences to provide instant feedback

• Presentation of fact rather than opinion  (Casting a white middle class male presents a fact that you have to be a successful city worker to afford such a life)

Q3 - Suggested Content

POINTS I MADE

POINTS I REFERRED TO

POINTS NOT MENTIONED

• Role of the media in our everyday lives

• 
  

  Responsibilities of the media in catering to a wide variety of opinions

• Differences between public service broadcasters and privately owned media institutions

• Opportunities for audiences to express their own values and beliefs

• Changes in media technology/impact upon audiences and producers 

• Role of audiences in providing feedback to media products 

• Role of government in democratic societies 

4) Which was your strongest question in Section A? Why did you do better in that particular question? Note the number of marks each question is worth.

Question 3 was my strongest answer. I think that this was because I didn't specifically make reference to the media products shown. I answered the question solely demonstrating my critical autonomy; referencing the Westminster Terror Attacks. However, to get more marks I could have developed my paragraphs more and written further paragraphs with new examples as in Section A I have mentioned the Westminster Attacks twice.  

5) Which was your weakest question in Section A? Again, try and identify why this happened. Did you misinterpret the question? Did you run out of time? 

Question 1, was my weakest answer. I think this is because in some of my paragraphs I went off on a tangent and wasn't answering the question. For instance, I talked about one of the products being a well-known brand with a following but I do not know this I assumed. 

6) Now look at pages 11-12 of the mark scheme for Section B - New/Digital Media paying particular attention to the suggested essay content on page 12. How many of the broad areas suggested by AQA did you cover in your Section B essay? Did you successfully answer the question?

Broad Areas suggested by AQA  - I MENTIONED/MADE REFERENCE TOO

• Historical role of media producers

• Recent developments in new and digital media

• Impact upon, and responses of, traditional media producers

• Changing demands of audiences

• Different situations in different mediums and on different platforms

I think that I answered the question successfully with a good variety of examples, but in terms of my analysis, I could have expanded it a bit more. I could have mentioned some historical events that answer the question which would have shown my knowledge of our the media industry has changed over time. Due to technology and in general and what this has meant for the survival of traditional organisations. 

7) Read the Examiner's Report in full. For each question your answered, would you classify your response as one of the stronger answers or one of the weaker answers the Chief Examiner discusses? Why? What could you do differently next time? Write a reflection for EACH question in the paper: Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q6 OR Q7.

Q1: The better answers which differentiated between authoritative and trustworthy but it was a weak answer because in the majority I did not specifically state media language techniques. 

What could I do differently? - Ensure that I specifically state what media language techniques I am referring to rather than assuming that it will be understood with me only touching the surface of explaining a media language technique; I can do this by ensuring that my analysis in each paragraph is as fully developed as I can make it.  

Q2: Started to make use of their own examples; rather than just referring to the two products given in the exam itself. Weaker answer because I misread the language of the question ignoring the 'do' so it changed their response to one that focused away from the set question.

What could I do differently? - Make sure that my answer makes use of some more of my own examples; maybe reference how we are encouraged to agree with a certain set of views and values through a Marxist or pluralist perspective. 

Q3: Sense of evaluation embedded into the analysis; such answers would take a standpoint towards the question. Weaker as I didn't look at both sides of the argument; why might providing a platform for alternative and oppositional views be problematic.

What could I do differently? - Include more balance in my argument looking at the problematic side of providing such platforms With the examples I did provide I could have gone into more depth in terms of the analysis that I provided. 

Q6 - Many referred to the disappearance of The Independent as a physical artefact newspaper, and the on-going debate concerning the use of paywalls on newspaper websites. Responses showed excellent engagement with what is happening in the world and media in 2016, and revealed a cohort with genuine concerns about how their future might be affected by a changing media landscape.

What could I do differently? -  Be more confident in my use of media theory to support my points and for the real exam, I will be able to mention my independent case study on Lionsgate and film viewing/distribution to make my answer stronger. 

8) Choose your weakest question in Section A and re-write an answer in full based on the suggested content from the Examiner's Report. This answer needs to be comprehensive and meet the criteria for Level 4 of the mark scheme. This will be somewhere between 3-6 well-developed paragraphs (depending on the question/number of marks available).

Q - What media language techniques are used to make each product appear authoritative and trustworthy?

Both media product 1 and 2 creatively use a variety of media language techniques to appear authoritative and trustworthy.

In the first media product, a sense of authority is created using mise en scene. Namely, the choice of costume being a suit, which is typical of a city worker and the setting being an office environment in the centre of London, depicts a well-educated and potentially wealthy individual. The wealthy lifestyle conveyed from the establishing shots of his city apartment with luxury furniture such as stainless steel in the kitchen vs. wooden effects could suggest a man of high social status, which assists the advert in appearing authoritative. The sense of authority conveyed would aline with the viewpoint of Gramsci suggesting the concept of hegemony, which means that society is still capitalist, orientated. One social class has dominance over the other, in this case, it is the upper-class city worker having dominance over those who struggle to pay rent and work two jobs just to afford a decent standard of living particularly in London.

Then media product two appears as trustworthy, through its simple production values. The clip opens with a simple shot on a sofa possibly in a house with no special effects or professional lighting and similar. It instead focuses on getting straight to the facts of the issue, therefore, appearing as trustworthy. Media product two also appears as trustworthy using direct address; when the report on the New Era estate begins. With the direct address, we are more likely to digest what we are being told because they presenter is speaking directly to us as opposed to a more professionally shot production where we are influenced by opinion leaders who mediate the way in which we react to the media we are seeing (Two-Step Flow Model).