TV assessment: Learner response

 1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: Q1 is superb ! Top level and close to full marks. now we just need to match that in the longer essay questions.

EBI: Revise left wing socialist and right wing capitalist ! Q2 needs much sharper question focus and organisation to push towards the top levels. See the exemplar answer for more on this. 

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment (even if you got full marks for the question).

Q1: 

• The increasingly blurred nature of film genres in the contemporary media landscape. Sequels and parodies often offer intertextual references and audience pleasures linked to recognition of other films, franchises, genres or stars. Possible theories: Steve Neale – similarity and difference; Schatz – genres are dynamic and go through cycles. Kingsman: The Secret Service suggests the parody or deconstruction stages – where genres are experimented with to establish new or different conventions.
• The distinction between actors and characters is arguably breaking down as films allude to stars’ previous roles or reputations or deliberately play an actor against type. 
• The poster arguably provides a good example of pastiche: media products that imitate the style of another text, artist or time period. Although an argument can be made that Kingsman: The Secret Service is a parody (there are definitely suggestions of comedy) the poster as a whole asks to be taken seriously. In a parody, audiences would likely expect a tagline that confirms the comic nature of the film. The only text appearing here is: ‘From the director of X Men: First Class’ which would suggest the film is trying to attract an audience looking for serious, action/superhero-based entertainment.

Q2: 

genres are dynamic and change to represent the concerns of the society which produces them 

media products are inherently ideological, they cannot avoid positioning audience 

explicit focus on – often controversial – contexts is motivated by the producers’ desire to transmit messages and values. 

the crime genre – which all the CSPs have elements of – has a long tradition of dealing with political and social issues in order to construct arguments and positions

media products – particularly fictional genres such as dramas – are constructed for entertainment and escapism

the audience alignment with appealing, central characters demonstrates that the form is about individual, not ideological experiences

 the construction of representation through the narrative conventions of enigma and suspense is highly artificial, making it very difficult to read the programmes as representations of reality. 

 Capital: 

• Focus is on a diverse range of characters across race, class, ethnicity, family structure, etc representing this as a positive aspect of contemporary life.
• Negative representations of the lives and values of those associated with finance and the city can be read ideologically – though this is complicated by individual character development (psychological insights, star performances etc).
• Drama is structured around a London street which is real and a microcosm of society, a style more readily associated with ideological messages.
• The narrative relies on a highly constructed enigma of the detective narrative providing audience pleasure but complicating the concept of realism.

Deutschland 83: 

• Explicitly ideological subject matter – Cold war, Communism versus Western Capitalism – construct positioning.
• Representations of the Stasi include their role in detentions and murder but the alignment of the audience with Lenora and Martin counters this.
• Positioning could be evaluated in terms of reception by nation and age which could affect the way audiences respond to the ideological message.
• The postmodern visual aesthetic which draws on pastiche, use of exaggerated popular culture references and stylized mise en scene, may undermine the claims to realism and ideological reading.

3) The first question demanded a response using postmodern terminology. Write a definition here of the three main terms:

Bricolage: The juxtaposing of old and new texts, images, ideas and narratives to create new meanings.

Pastiche:This refers to media products that imitate the style of another text, artist or time period. Pastiche is an example of intertextuality and takes a positive view of the original source.

In contrast parody is similar but ridicules the original source (e.g. Scary Movie parodies horror).

Intertextuality: a media text referencing another media text.

4) Read this exemplar answer for the 25-mark question in the assessment. Select a quote from the essay for each of the following aspects from the mark scheme:

a) analysis of the products that focuses on contexts and ideological positioning

Capital: The Daily Mail heavily criticised Capital for featuring ‘more leftwing causes than a Jeremy Corbyn’s diary’ it could be argued that the focus on house prices and hard work actually reinforces dominant hegemonic ideologies most closely associated with right-wing capitalist values. Although positive representations of asylum seekers and immigration - plus the negative portrayal of the upper-middle class white Yount family - suggest leftwing ideologies are being promoted, all the characters audiences are encouraged to sympathise with work hard and contribute to the economy.

Deutschland 83 : Capital, it could be argued that western capitalist ideologies are being unconsciously reinforced through the construction of the narrative and key elements of mise-en-scene. The supermarket scene in the West where Martin first sees the plentiful food, colourful fruit and policemen eating ice creams presents the West as offering a much higher standard of living than the East and therefore reinforcing the dominant capitalist ideology we see across so much of western media.

b) use of media theory

Capital:Applying Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this is unconsciously communicating to audiences the value in working hard, earning money and contributing to consumerism and capitalism - maintaining the status quo and reinforcing more rightwing ideology.

c) a judgement or conclusion on the question

In conclusion, it is impossible to ignore the ideological positions constructed by television dramas and Capital and D83 are no exception to this. However, it could be argued that different audiences can read these fictional genres in different ways depending on their own perspectives and therefore social, cultural and political contexts are not the only aspect to this process.

d) examples from the TV CSPs

Martin’s mother’s birthday party early in the first episode contains genuine warmth and happiness as partygoers sing ‘99 luftballons’ in stark contrast to the cold, tense BBQ scene at General Edel’s house in the West towards the end of the episode.

e) use of media terminology 

However, some audiences may challenge this dominant or preferred reading and suggest that other ideological readings are available. In Capital, there are many elements of the narrative and characterisation that certainly fit with the ‘woke’ leftwing perspective in the ongoing culture wars.

Reinforced through the construction of the narrative and key elements of mise-en-scene.

5) Based on this assessment, write three things you need to revise before the upcoming end of Year 12 exams.

Theories, Social and cultural contexts, MIGRAIN