December mock exams: Learner response

Paper 1

1) Type up your feedback in full

WWW: There is potential here: you clearly know the terminology (Q1, Q4)  and 7/12 is a solid return on the unseen  text. Work on your 20 mark essay skills and you'll be flying! 

EBI:  Plan and practise 20 mark essay's. Revise the CSPs for this too.

2) Use the mark scheme for this Paper 1 mock to read the answers AQA were looking for. Look specifically for the indicative content in the mark scheme - these are the suggested answers from AQA. Did you get any key media terminology wrong in this paper?

Design and Layout including juxtaposition, overlays

Typography

Non-verbal codes

Verbal codes (use of language)

Colour palette

Photographic codes (cropping, shot selection, angle of shot)

3) Next, write down three points from the mark scheme you could have made for Q2 - the unseen analysis question.

The size of the typographic elements signifies the relative importance of their referent.

Body adornment such as neck tattoo which has associations with hard core

subculture which are at odds with the design elements themselves (flowers, treble

clef) which have softer, more gentle connotations.

The obscured title (True) is a convention of magazine cover design which rewards

readers who are ‘in the know’

4) Pick out two points from Q3 on Heat magazine that you could have added to your answer.

– pictures taken when the star wasn’t aware of the camera.

Paparazzi shots also create a more realistic feel where audiences think they are getting a glimpse of ‘reality’ rather than airbrushed celebrity images. 

5) Finally, focus on Q5 - the 20 mark essay on music video. Write a new essay plan for this question based on the answers in the mark scheme. Aim for an introduction, three main paragraphs and a conclusion.   

INTRODUCTION:

Talk about both music videos

Argument paragraphs:

• the video has a number of sequences designed to show their personalities rather

than their musical ability. Indeed, BLACKPINK have been put together to be visually

appealing to the target audience .

• The Arctic Monkeys video deliberately manufactures an authenticity that plays on

how they became famous: “Don’t believe the hype”.

• For the rock/indie genre, authenticity is the key selling point so Arctic Monkeys play

up to this in the music video.

• many young people do not watch music videos anymore, preferring to download

music or stream it via apps such as Spotify, therefore the music video becomes

irrelevant

• some of the music video hits on YouTube can be accounted for by young people

listening whilst working at the computer, rather than watching the screen

• they are seen in the video playing instruments, reinforcing that music is central to the

group

CONCLUSION:

make judgements which lead them to either agree or disagree with the

statement in the question.

Paper 2

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- Your Q2 essay shows clear potential: reference to the CSPs and the contexts of their production. The challenge now is to hit that level across the whole paper.

EBI-  You need high quality notes focused on the keywords

Revise narrative theories and terminology

1.3 needs to focus on the clip in the exam.

2) Use the mark scheme for this Paper 2 mock to read the answers AQA were looking for. First, write down a definition and example of non-diegetic sound (Q1.1 and 1.2). 

 Diegetic sound- all sounds made by or heard by the characters

Example-‘When Lyra says, “So you’re a

kitchen boy then?”

3) Next, identify three points you could have made in Q1.3 - camerawork and the extract. Look for the indicative content in the mark scheme - these are the suggested answers from AQA.

The wide shot and slow dolly/tracking through the open doors shows both characters

together sitting at the table. The camerawork is communicating the growing friendship between Lyra and Will and

helps to foreshadow the suggestion (in the very next shot) from Will that they team

up and work together.

As Lyra walks into the house, the camera moves backwards with her – a faster-

paced dolly shot to signal to the audience that things are changing, the relationship is moving on. Will is left out of focus and trying to keep up – once again communicating to the audience the power imbalance in Lyra’s favour.

4) Now look at Q1.4 in the mark scheme - pick out two points from the mark scheme that you could have included in your answer.

The way Lyra first investigates and then eats the omelette also subverts feminine

stereotypes. Her interaction with props in the scene deliberately subvert ideas of

being ‘ladylike’ or feminine.

Will’s expression and body language is very timid which subverts masculine

stereotypes. In contrast, Lyra’s movements and expressions exude confidence.

5) Finally, Q2 was a 20-mark essay on representations of age and social and cultural contexts. Write a new essay plan for this question based on the answers in the mark scheme.  

There are also positive representations of teens in which attributes such as freedom,

independence, creativity and social awareness are likely to be emphasised. Some

frequently represented characteristics of teenagers may be seen as positive by

younger audiences but as negative by older audiences. These include

rebelliousness, openness to change, liberal values on matters such as sexuality and

a much stronger commitment to friendship groups than to family or country.

In HDM it is the teens/young adults who lead the way in driving the narrative

forward. The adults tend to accept their more peripheral roles or discuss the

prophecy that revolves around Lyra. The teens are proactive, and the adults react.

As with many modern representations of teenagers, HDM suggests stronger ties to

friends than to families. Lyra’s attitude towards her friends in contrast to her mother

Mrs Coulter is a good example of this. Older characters are viewed with suspicion.

• The use of spectres in HDM also drives a strong dividing line between younger

characters and adults – with the two girls that Will and Lyra run into saying ‘We’re

OK on our own, aren’t we’.