AQA GCSE Media Studies - June 2012 TV Crime Drama Preliminary Brief Guidance Notes

1. GCSE MEDIA
Controlled Test - Guidance Tips

2. General Points
•The exam will be 1hour and 30 minutes long
•The exam will be held on Thursday, June 14th at 1:30 pm
•Each question is worth 15 marks and you should spend
approximately 20 minutes on each question.
•You should bring design equipment such as drawing
and colouring pencils, a ruler and an eraser in order to
answer question 4.
• NOTE: These notes are designed to be comprehensive;
they are merely designed to start you off and provoke
some ideas.

3. Institution identified
Narrative Audience identified
consideration
Mise-en-scene,
realisitc - not the
desert!
Character Expectation to use
consideration conventions
Consider Before 9pm!
challenging
stereotypes
New and e-media =
website!
Marketing
BE CREATIVE!

4. The Scenario
• The scenario you are provided with gives you a situation that requires your
expertise. In reality, it is a reminder that you are expected to respond to the
questions in role; in other words, you are the representative for the Crime
Channel and should write your answers in the appropriate style.
• The scenario also provides you with useful bits of information that will help
you, such as:
• The crime channel is a satellite and cable channel
• ‘some say it now lacks originality and that main characters are often boring’
• suitable for a pre-watershed audience
• AND
• your ideas must have an engaging storyline, full of suspense
• take place in realistic settings
• convincing and interesting characters

5. Question 1
• Will test your knowledge and
understanding of crime drama. Helpful
points to consider for planning your
question 1 response:
• being able to define TV Crime genre
• know the codes and conventions of TV
Crime shows
Q wl s yu a il o
.1 ileto r bit f
t y
• use of media language and concepts rclsl t n c m u ict
ea, e c a d o m n a
l e e
ko l g a du d r a d g
n w d e n n es n in
e t
• be able to use a wide range of examples (AO1)
I il l t th a il t
t l s e te bit o
w ao s y
from TV Crime shows to support your d m nt t rsac ,
e o s a eerh
re
answer p n in a dpee t io sil
l n g n rsna n kl
a
(AO3)
t s

6. Question 1- Concepts and Theories
Media Language - Codes and Audience and audience theory
Conventions • Target audience - socio-economic, demographics,
• Conventions - genre, sub genres, hybrid genres and psychographics
common features •Types of audiences - family audience, niche
• Narrative structure and theory - Enigmas, Todorov, audiences, educated audiences
Propp, binary oppositions •Audience positioning and appeals
• Character types - Hero, Detective, Anti-hero etc • Popularity of crime shows
•Technical codes - camera shots, angles, movements, • Uses and gratification theory
editing, sound, characters, mise en-scene, setting • The effects debate - active and passive audience
and locations • Cultural capital
Institution Representation
• Channels - BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 - • Use of stereotypes particularly gender
Sky Channels stereotyping, cultural stereotypes in crime dramas
• Scheduling - time and date, cloning, • Representation of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity
and social class
hammocking and clustering
• Consideration of those excluded e.g. race,
• Pre watershed and post watershed (link to disability, sexuality
audience) • Male and female gaze
• Star marketing - linked to audience

7. Question 2 - Pitching
your idea
• For your pitch you will need to remember to
remain in role, using persuasive and exciting
language. You need to show the examiner
that YOUR TV Crime show is the BEST THING
EVER!
• It is likely you will need to include:
• An appealing and suitable title Q wl s yu a il o rcl
.2 ileto r bit fea,
t y l
• A realistic setting and location sl t n c m u ict ko l g
e c ad o m n a n w d e
e e
a du d r a d g(AO1)
n n es n in
t
e
• A brief synopsis - make use of sub genres or I ileth a il t d m nt t
t l s te bit o e o s a
wt y re
hybrids! rsac , p n in a dpee t io
eerh l n g n rsna n
a t
sil (AO3)
kl
s
• two brief character profiles I il l t th a il t c nt c
t l s e te bit o o s u t
w ao s y r
a dea a yu o n rd c
n vl t o r w po u t
ue s
• REMEMBER: a family audience (AO4)

8. Question 3
• It is likely you will need to explain why it will be
popular with the target audience and how it
meets the demands of the brief
• rationale for your pitch - cross referencing the brief
and to your pitch
• how do you plan to challenge stereotypes?
• what techniques have been used to appeal to a
family audience - application of media theory to
justify audience appeals
Q wl s yu a il o
.3 ileto r bit f
t y
• what time it will be shown? (considering pre- rclsl t n
ea, e c a d
l e
watershed brief) - linking back to audience c m u ict ko l g
o m n a nw d e
e e
a du d r a d g(AO1)
n n es n in
t
appeals
I ileth a il t
t l s te bit o
wt y
• marketing techniques you plan to use (TV spot d m nt t rsac ,
e o s a eerh
re
trailers, poster, website, competitions, social p n in a dpee t io
l n g n rsna n
a t
sil (AO3)
kls
networking etc)

9. Question 4: Creative
Task
• You will be supplied with an A3 sheet of paper to produce your
design. It would be a good idea to draw your webpage leaving room
to write annotations around the perimeter of your design. These would
explain the decisions that you have made to the examiner.
• Your content needs to be appropriate to a family audience. The
ideas you came up with for Question 2 and 3 will be a good starting
point...
• You must observe the conventions of a webpage - consider how your
reader will navigate the page with hyperlinks and where these
hyperlinks should be placed. How should your content be arranged
on the website? Research existing sites for ideas and good practice.
• Consider the advantages of the webpage format - interactive
elements like moving image footage, animations, sound, music, links
to other sites - and how these could be used to attract your target Q wl s yu a il o
.4 ileto r bit f
t y
audience. You should also explain how these techniques could be rclsl t n
ea, e c a d
l e
used to present information effectively c m u ict ko l g
o mn a nw d e
e e
a du d r a d g(AO1)
n n es n in
t
• Link to social networking sites - how could these be used? You might
also consider how to use forums or micro sites (blogs) to develop I il l t th a il t
t l s e te bit o
w ao s y
relationship between the text and audience c nt c a dea a yu
o s u t n vl t o r
r ue
o n rd c (AO4)
w po u t s

10. Institution/ Production Date and how to
Hyperlinks easy navigation
company watch the show
Search engine
Sign in/ Register links
Title of website and URL
(address of website)
Similar
layout/
typography/
colour
schemes to
the show.
Why?
Embedded
video clips
Synergy,
cross media

11. Audience interaction /
participation through games
Adverts relevant to audience
Forums
Social
networking
links

12. Audience
polls
Legal notices and copyright
Institutional details, why is
this here? Newsletters

13. Still time to watch TV Crime shows!
ITV Channel 4 Channel 5 Sky 1
6:50pm- Murder She Wrote
(ITV3)
Tuesday 8:00pm - The Sweeney
(ITV4)
5pm - Rosemary & Thyme
(Channel 4 + 1)
9:00 pm - CSI (Channel 5)
10pm - CSI NY (Channel 5)
9:00pm - Taggart (ITV3)
Wednesd 5:50pm Heartbeat (ITV3)
6:55pm- Murder She Wrote
5pm - Rosemary & Thyme
(Channel 4 + 1)
9:00pm - NCIS (Channel 5)
10pm - Law & Order:
(ITV3) 10pm - The Killing (Channel Special Victim Unit
ay 8:00pm - Lewis (ITV) 4) (Channel 5)
5:55pm Heartbeat (ITV3)
7pm- Murder She Wrote
(ITV3)
Thursday 8pm - Monk (ITV3)
8pm - Minder (ITV4)
9pm - Taggart (ITV3)
5pm - Rosemary & Thyme
(Channel 4 + 1)
10pm - Blue Murder (ITV3)
5:50pm Heartbeat (ITV3)
6:55pm- Murder She Wrote
Friday (ITV3)
9pm - Taggart (ITV3)
10pm - Murder in Surburbia
5pm - Rosemary & Thyme
(Channel 4 + 1)
9pm - The Mentalist
(Channel 5)
(ITV3)
12:20pm - Murder She
Wrote (ITV)
7:55pm - NCIS (Channel 5)
3:45 - Sherlock Holmes (ITV3)
Saturday 5:55pm - Agatha Christies
Marple (ITV3)
8:50pm - CSI (Channel 5)
9:40 pm - CSI NY (Channel
5)
8pm - Hawaii 5-0
8pm - The Sweeney (ITV4)
9pm - Lewis (ITV3)