This document provides an overview and guidance for a media studies exam focusing on TV dramas and representation. It discusses: 1) The purpose of the exam is to assess students' understanding of textual analysis and how technical elements create representations. 2) Section A will include an unseen TV drama clip and question about its technical aspects and how they shape representations. 3) When analyzing representation, students should consider what views of people/issues are portrayed, how audiences are positioned, and if representations challenge or conform to dominant ideologies. 4) The document provides advice on preparing for the exam question, including reviewing concepts like camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing, and sound, and using

1. AS Media Studies
G322: Key Concepts in Media
Section A: TV DRAMA
Date: 25/02/2014
Term Sp2, Lesson 1
1

2. Connect
TV Dramas
• What can you remember about the 2
following words?
• Write your answers in your books
Verisimilitude
Representation

3. Discover
Discovery Question
• What is a TV DRAMA and why is
REPRESENTATION so important in
it?
Date
Term ?, Lesson ?
3

4. Discover
Learning Objective/ Outcome
Level
All: Will understand the exam question and be able to relate it to TV
Dramas
Level 2
Most: Will explain the uses Camerawork, Editing, Sound and MES in
a TV Drama to create Representation
Level 3
Some: Will analyse the the uses Camerawork, Editing, Sound and
MES in a TV Drama to create Representation
Level 4
Date
Term ?, Lesson ?
4

5. Discover
G322 Media Exam
• Textual Analysis and Representation:
– Camera shots
– Camera Angle
– Movement and Composition
– Editing
– Sound
– Mise-en-Scene

6. Discover
G322 Media Exam
• The purpose of these units is first to assess
candidates’ media textual analysis skills and
their understanding of the concept of
representation using a short unseen moving
image extract

7. Discover
Section A
• An ‘unseen’ moving image extract with one
compulsory question dealing with textual
analysis of various technical aspects of the
languages and conventions of moving image
media.
• Candidates will be asked to link this analysis
with a discussion of some aspect of
representation within the sequence.

8. Discover
Section A
• The focus of study for Section A is the use of
technical aspects of the moving image
medium to create meaning for an audience,
focusing on the creation of representations of
specific social types, groups, events or places
within the extract.

9. Discover
Exam Structure
Watching the unseen moving image extract
•
You will be allowed two minutes to read the question for Section A before the extract is screened.
•
The extract will be screened four times.
–
–
–
First screening: watch the extract; no notes are to be made this time.
Second screening: watch the extract and make notes. • There will be a brief break for note-making.
Third and fourth screening: watch the extract and make notes
•
There will be a brief break for note-making after the third and fourth screenings.
•
Your notes for Section A are to be written in the answer booklet provided and must be handed in at
the end of the examination.
•
Rule a diagonal line through your notes afterwards.

10. Discover
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
7 KEY AREAS FOR TOPIC
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Class and status
Physical ability/disability
Regional identity

11. In exploring representation you need
to establish....
• What view of people or issues is being
conveyed to audiences?
• How far is that view conveyed?
• How far are audiences positioned to take up a
preferred view?
• How far do the representations challenge or
conform to dominant representations and
ideologies?

12. Representation
• Representation refers to the construction
in any medium of aspects of ‘reality’ such
as people, places, objects, events, cultural
identities and other abstract concepts.
Such representations may be in speech or
writing as well as still or moving pictures.
• A key aspect in the study of representation
concern is with the way in which
representations are made to seem
‘natural’.

13. Representation
• Media is all about taking reality (real life) and
re-presenting it to an audience in a different
way. This might be a re-presentation of real
life e.g. BBC news, a manipulation of real life
e.g. The Only Way is Essex or Made in
Chelsea, or a fictional account e.g.
Eastenders or Coronation Street.
• All Media has a base in reality and the way
we see different events or characters can
have a real impact on the way we feel about
a group of people or a major issue.

14. Representation
• Representation plays a major role in our
enjoyment of a Media text. The audience
reads and decodes information in a number
of ways, and this helps them to understand
who a character is or what they might be
feeling.
• The audience is also influenced by what they
see represented on screen
• Look at the following TV characters – how do
they make you feel about them?

18. Stereotypes
• The easiest way for the audience to relate
to a character or characters is to use
Stereotypes
• Stereotypes are when a character is
created using a common set of ideas
about a group of people. These ideas can
be both positive and negative and can
influence the way we view groups of
people

19. Stereotypes
• Whenever we look at a character on
screen we need to work out who they are
representing.
• This is how Stereotypes work – they arew
a simple way of recognising a character
quickly for an audience
• An ARCHEOTYPE is a developed
character – a character that builds from a
stereotype.

20. Approaching the Question
• It is very difficult to discuss a ‘plan’ for
Question 1 when the topic and extract are
unseen!
• What we can do is practice the tools that will
help for every question
Date
Term ?, Lesson ?
20

21. Approaching the Question
• Some important rules:
– You must talk about each area of CAMERAWORK,
MISE-EN-SCENE, EDITING and SOUND to get a
Level 3 or 4
– You should discuss one point at a time and move
on
– Use P.E.A parargraphs to help you make relevant
points
Date
Term ?, Lesson ?
21

22. Approaching the Question
Date
Term ?, Lesson ?
22