December Mock Exam: Learner Response

 1) Type up any feedback on your paper (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential). If you only have marks and a grade on the paper, write a WWW/Next Steps yourself based on your scores.

Q1.3- Consider the power dynamic that is established

Q1.4- Consider body language and costume too

Q2- This is an age question not a gender question. Read carefully!

Q3.1- NO FEEDBACK

Q3.2- NO FEEDBACK

Q4- Consider the size/scope of the pair's influence

Q5- What sort of regulation would align content with target demographics then?

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

Non diegetic- sounds only the audience can hear like background music

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 opening shot in the extract focuses on the omelette in Will’s hand – almost a

close-up – with handheld camera movement following the plate to the table. This

focus on the food Will has cooked seems to establish him as the less dominant

person in the relationship. The medium shot of Lyra suspiciously looking at the food

reinforces this power imbalance in their relationship.

• Camera angle is used in an interesting way in the extract. Will is often shown from a

low angle which should suggest power or dominance. However, his expression and

body language is very timid so in fact seems to further emphasise Lyra’s confidence.

When Lyra is sitting at the table, the camera is deliberately placed at Lyra’s level so

she is not presented as weak or vulnerable.

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

together sitting at the table. This deliberately places both characters in the same

frame as the conversation becomes more friendly and less guarded. 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. The slow dolly/track at this point signals to the audience that

something important is happening; their relationship is changing. It works in a similar

way to a zoom.

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.

Mise-en-scene

• Lyra’s costume subverts feminine stereotypes. It is blue, practical and does not

emphasise her figure or draw attention. It helps to establish Lyra as a practical,

confident character who is used to surviving on her own.

• 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.

5) Look at Q2 - the 20-mark essay on representations of age and social and cultural contexts. Pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your answer.

• Although the idea of ‘teenage’ was not new, teenagers as a distinct category

developed rapidly in the post-war years and was well established by 1963. The idea

of the ‘generation gap’ as a social issue was still new and much-discussed.

• Media representations of teens/young adults usually identify this group by their

attitudes, behaviour, language, clothing and music. There are many negative

stereotypes of teenagers in television drama in which characteristics such as

laziness, anti-social behaviour, inability to concentrate and self-indulgence are

portrayed as ‘typical’.

• The Doctor is tetchy and patronising. Unlike Susan, he is dismissive and

disrespectful towards the teachers because of their intellectual inferiority. His

clothing signals that he is eccentric; it is more suggestive of the 1890s than the

1960s. Although a non-human, he appears to have very traditional and patriarchal

values. He refers to the ‘savage minds’ of American Indians (native Americans).

6) Turning your attention to Section B, write a definition and example of user-generated content - use the mark scheme to check it.

User-generated content- Content made by the one who uses the platform. An example of this can be someone posting on Twitter/X

7) Look at Q4 - the 20-mark essay on the power of influencers. Pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your own answer.

• There is an army of influencers: social media users and celebrities with large, devoted

followings, who give their followers access to a carefully curated version of their lives. In

this “authentic” context, sponsored content, known as “sponcon”, has proved a potent tool

for selling products.

• By the end of 2019, the influencer marketing industry was worth some $8bn a year. One

recent report by Insider Intelligence predicted that it would grow to $15bn globally by the

end of 2022.

• Kim Kardashian is one of the most successful social media influencers of all time. She uses

her social media presence to promote herself and her brands to her 350 million followers.

Kardashian is highly sought after as a brand ambassador and is paid millions of dollars by

companies to promote their products. 

8) Now look at Q5 - the 20-mark essay on regulation and the internet. Again, pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your own answer.

• how representations convey particular viewpoints, messages, values and beliefs, which may be

reinforced across a wide range of media products

• how and why particular groups may be under-represented or misrepresented

• how representations reflect the social, historical and cultural contexts in which they were

produced

9) On a scale of 1-10 (1 = low, 10 = high), how much revision and preparation did you do for your Media mock exam? Be honest here - it's a good chance to think about how to approach the next set of mock exams.

2- I didn't use enough of my time to revise and I should've read some of the questions properly.

10) List three key things you want to revise before the next mock exams in February (e.g. particular CSPs, terminology, exam technique etc.)

. Key definitions

. advertising and magazine csp's 

. structure for high mark questions- 12,20