A2 OCR media studies exam tips for question 1a and 1b. Tips and theory to help answer the 1a and 1b questions.

1. +
Theory for Questions 1a
and 1b
What to pick and why

2. +
Tips for EVERY question can be found
here
 Our blogs:
 http://fordmedia1112.blogspot.co.uk/
 http://smithlcmedia.blogspot.com/
 This is the chief examiners blog:
 http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/

3. +
Question 1a
Will be a combination of:
 Creativity
 Research and Planning
 Real Media Conventions
 Digital Technology
 Post production

4. +
Past Questions
 Describe how you developed research and planning skills for
media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to
creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your
answer to show how these skills developed over time.
Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by
research into real media texts and how your ability to use such
research for production developed over time.
Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital
technology for media production and evaluate how these skills
contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of
examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over
time.

5. +
Top Tip – From the examiner
 You only have half an hour for the question and you really need
to make the most of that time by quickly moving from
description (so the reader knows what you did) to
analysis/evaluation/reflection, so he/she starts to understand
what you learnt from it.
 Final tips: you need some practice- this is very hard to do
without it! Try to write an essay on each of the areas, or at the
very least doing a detailed plan with lots of examples. The fact
that it is a 30 minute essay makes it very unusual, so you need
to be able to tailor your writing to that length- a tough task!

6. +
Creativity – matching the debate to
an area
"A process needed for problem solving...not a special gift enjoyed by a few
but a common ability possessed by most people" (Jones 1993)
post production research and planning
"The making of the new and the re arranging of the old" (Bentley 1997)
media conventions, post production, digital technology
"Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three
elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty
into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate
the innovation." (Csikszentmihalyi 1996)
"There is no absolute judgement [on creativity] All judgements are
comparisons of one thing with another." (Donald Larning)
media conventions

7. +
Real Media Conventions
Knowing what ‘real’ texts include and knowing why you used
them. For this, it is worth making a list for each project you
have worked on and categorising them by medium so that
you don’t repeat yourself
Prelim Mag – Music Mag – Music Video – Digipak – Magazine
Advert
Or
Continuity exercise – film opening – Music Video – Digipak –
Magazine Advert

8. +
Key basic terminology – magazines
(useful for poster)
Masthead: The title of the magazine or newspaper. It is usually
placed at the top of the front cover for display purposes
Cover lines : Information about major articles given on the front
page of a magazine
Plug: Information about the contents of a magazine or
newspaper given on the front cover
Left-side third: A lot of important information designed to attract
potential readers is placed in the left-hand side vertical third of
the front cover page. This is in case the magazine is displayed in
a horizontal shelving system rather than a vertical one.

9. +
Section 1b – analyzing your text
against theory
Make sure you have a line of argument and plenty of examples to
back them up.
Audience
Genre
Narrative
Representation
Media Language

10. +
Past Questions
Analyse media representation in one of your coursework
productions.
Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre.
Apply theories of narrative to one of your coursework
productions.

11. +
What’s not been been asked?
Audience
Media Language

12. +
Audience
 Who was your product aimed at?
(revise using your blog and UK Tribes)
 How did you target this audience?
(think uses and gratifications, what did you include to appeal to
them?)
 What was their reaction?
(preferred, oppositional and negotiated)

13. +
Media Language
Difficult as it’s a bit catch all BUT focus on technical features
 Editing
 Camera work
 Page layouts (magazine or poster)
 Fonts (magazine or poster)
These elements are used to tell a ‘story’. You’ll need to revise
Music Video theory.

14. +
Media Language - Basic Music Video stuff
Tempo of music drives the editing.
Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance,
camera and editing styles.
Camerawork impacts meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all
play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate).
Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of the images impossible to
grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing (repeatability).
Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the the original
images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience.

15. +
Media Language
Slightly more advanced – Andrew Goodwin
Illustrate: Images used to represent the meanings of the lyrics
and genre (this is the most common feature of a music video) this
is very often literal.
Disjuncture: When the meaning of the song is completely
ignored
Amplify: Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly
shown throughout the video and shown to the audience (basically
repetition).
You MUST link these elements to the basic technical elements.

16. +
All previous questions
Jan 2010
1 (a) Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how
these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show
how these skills developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b) you need to choose one of your media productions to write about.
(b) Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions. [25]
Section A Total [50]
(a) Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and
how your ability to use such research for production developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b)you need to choose one of your media productions to write about.
(b) Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre. [25]
Section A Total [50]

17. +
Jan 2011
1 (a) Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and
evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your
answer to show how these skills developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions.
(b) Apply theories of narrative to one of your coursework productions. [25]
June 2011
1 (a) Explain how far your understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced the way you
created your own media products. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how this
understanding developed over time. [25]
Question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions only.
(b) Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the concept of audience. [25]

18. +
Jan 2012
1 (a) Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texts informed your own creative media
practice. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions.
(b) Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions. [25]
June 2012
1 (a) Describe a range of creative decisions that you made in post-production and how these decisions
made a difference to the final outcomes. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these
skills developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions.
(b) Explain how meaning is constructed by the use of media language in one of your coursework
productions. [25]

19. +
Jan 2013
1 (a) Explain how your research and planning skills developed over time and contributed to your media
production outcomes. Refer to a range of examples in your answer. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about One of your media productions.
(b) Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the concept of narrative. [25]
June 2013
1 (a) Explain how your skills in the creative use of digital technology developed over time. Refer to a range
of examples from your media productions in your answer. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions.
(b) Apply the concept of representation to one of your coursework productions. [25]

20. +
June 2014
1 (a).Describe the most important post-production decisions you made to your different media productions
and explain why these decisions were significant. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how
your skills in post-production developed over time. [25]
In question 1(b) you must write about one of your media productions.
(b) Apply the concept of genre to one of your coursework productions. [25]