Paper 2 PPE learner response

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

WWW-Reached target grade and showed good understanding of media terminology and CSP's

2) Did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade for A Level Media in this paper? If not, how many additional marks do you need to achieve your target grade in Paper 2?
I am currently 9 marks away from where I should be which is definitely achievable if I sharpen up in key areas for the essay questions.

These are the grade boundaries we've used, based on last year's A Level exam but raised slightly to account for the fact they will probably move up slightly (out of 84):  

A* = 75; A = 66; B = 54; C = 44; D = 32; E = 20.

Now read through the AQA mark scheme for Paper 2 - you'll already have looked at this in class when marking the exam booklet of other students' responses. The original Paper 2 question paper is here if that is helpful too.

3) Write a question-by-question analysis of your performance. For each question, write how many marks you got from the number available and identify any points that you missed by carefully studying the AQA indicative content in the mark scheme:

Q1) 5/9-the visual codes and composition of the image including framing. The construction of myth through the use of signs – the lone, charismatic
American hero, violent but thoughtful and reflective. These are simple points I can make for easy marks, going into detail about the use of different aspects on the image such as the character himself.

Q2) 15/25-the key aspects of the relevant theories, including uses and gratifications,
hypodermic needle model, moral panic, cultivation, Bandura’s social
learning theory. Additionally, the coverage of effects theory in the media can lead to moral panics, affecting much wider areas of society than the individual user

Q3) 15/25-the contexts of production are relatively insignificant in creating meanings
(reception theory); meanings derive from the interaction between the
audience and the product. All media production is conditioned by the dominant ideology, the value system and perceptions of reality

Q4) 10/25- ensuring that the content is relevant and interesting for a range of
audiences across national borders (for example by addressing global
themes and issues as well as culturally specific topics). using a variety of platforms that includes: free-to-air television, the internet (including subscription services such as Netflix), web apps, subscription services such as Sky

4) Look at question 4 - the synoptic question on TV. Write a full, new essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme (focus particularly on distribution) and taking care to include at least one paragraph that addresses the synoptic element. You can use bullet points but make sure you offer enough content to meet the criteria for Level 4 (top level). This will be somewhere between 4-6 well-developed paragraphs planned in some detail.

Introduction: State my main argument between the CSP's I'll be using throughout my essay

Paragraph 1: Make points on Capital and the ways in which it was originally broadcasted, promoted etc. 'State of the nation' event series. Mention how themes and settings are constructed to appeal to an international audience, London iconography. Ensure to go into detail about what theorists make links to Capital and how Capital reinforces their ideologies throughout the show.

Paragraph 2: Make links between Capital and digital or physical media such as magazines and general news in order to show my understanding and go into the question with detail. Distribution deals such as Freemantle and Pivot TV which I need to remember to utilise. 

Paragraph 3: Start to bring in Deutschland 83 and make a link to it too being distributed by the British distribution company, Freemantle. Themes and setting are constructed to appeal to an international audience through the familiar narrative tropes of an ‘innocent abroad' and the “Romeo and Juliet” romance. The series is visually stylish using a familiar postmodern style which exploits the current popularity
of retro styles in fashion and music

Paragraph 4: Make sure to talk about Walter presents (easy marks), which is a subsidiary of C4, exploiting broadcast.and digital opportunities co-production of AMC Networks, SundanceTV (US) and RTL Television (German and American), positioning it to exploit the national and global market AMC and RTL were able to develop the series in the context of new opportunities for distribution and exhibition

Conclusion: Conclude my argument and make my final points about both Capital and Deutschland 83.

5) Based on the whole of your Paper 2 learner response, plan FIVE topics / concepts / CSPs / theories that you will prioritise in your Easter Media revision timetable.

1. Revise Denotation, Connotation and Myth more
2. Capital and Deutschland 83 and everything behind them, production, distribution, promotion.
3. Go over the magazines more and find ways to link theory (Oh Comely and Men's Health)
4. Tomb Raider and Metroid as I didn't go as in depth or into detail as I should have
5. Range of theory