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: There is clearly good knowledge here of terminology and the CSPs. The challenge is to add the exam technique that opens up the top grades 

EBI: Question focus + organisation for the 25-marker. See mark scheme/examples 

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 

Q2: 

- Capital: Capital has been accused of left-wing bias for negative representation of wealth/upper middle class white British people and positive representation of multiculturalism and illegal immigrants 

- Deutschland 83: The focus on the cold war is a reference to actual historical and political events (e.g. Able Archer).

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: The reference to other texts within media products 

4) Look over your mark, teacher comments and the mark scheme for Question 2 - the 25 mark essay question on your TV Close-Study Products. Write a complete essay plan for this question based on the suggested answers in the mark scheme. You can either use something similar to your actual answer or alternatively start from scratch. Make sure it is an extensive, detailed plan focused on the question (representations; social and cultural contexts of production) and offering specific references to Capital and Deutschland 83 for each section

P1/Intro: The close study products I will be referring to are Deutschland 83 which is a German hybrid genre TV show which was set in 1983 but produced in 2015 and Capital which is a state-of-the-nation British TV drama set in modern-day London and also was produced in 2015 

P2: I strongly believe that Capital represents the social contexts in which it was released because there was extreme social inequalities (especially between social classes) at the time and this was captured and represented accurately in the show. This has been done through the characters, Roger who represents the upper-class in London, which is especially emphasises through his dialogue of "What use is 30 grand to anyone?" in order to reflect the ignorance that the upper-class have towards the working-class residents in London. This emphasises the wealth and money divide in British society and even allows us to apply marxism where we can see the minority (the elite) who are represented by Roger and Arabella in Capital have power and money and use their wealth and power to generate more power. When we compare the upper-class to the working-class in Capital, we can see the true social divide and the emphasis on left-wing ideologies  

P3: To some extent, I believe that Capital represents British culture in 2015 because British culture is difficult to determine due to the diversity of cultures that is presented in London and the show- a majority of the characters do not originate from British nationality 

P4: I do not believe that Deutschland 83 represents the cultural contexts of the time of production because the show was based on 1983 Germany where there was a divide between the East and West Germans and there was a large cultural divide. By the year of production, there was no division between East and West Germany so the events of Deutschland 83 are only reflective of the cultural contexts of 1983 instead of the year of production which is 2015 

P5: I believe that social representations in Deutschland 83 are less prominent because the social representations are not as noticeable as the cultural representations. However, the social context representations suggest that in the West, the working-class life is fetishised and the middle-class is criticised. However, the East presents a warm, intimate and friendly community whereas the West presents a cold and distant environment 

P6/Conclusion: This means that the social and cultural contexts in which they were produced are reflected in Capital are more prominently than the social and cultural contexts in Deutschland 83 

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

- The structure and organisation of a 25-mark essay question 

- The ways that postmodernism can be used in different media products and texts

- The exam techniques that must be used in order to achieve the top marks