This document provides exam tips for media studies exams. It recommends showing an understanding of key concepts and using specific examples in answers. Students should carefully read questions and use familiar terms as a starting point. Introductions should be brief to allow time to answer the question. Answers should be structured and organized with contrasting examples to support points. Handwriting should be legible and paragraphs short to aid the examiner. Proper preparation of examples and structure is key to performing well.

2. Exam Tips
Whichever media area you are covering for this
question, it is important that you show
understanding of the key concepts and refer to
specific examples in your answer.

3. Read the question carefully
You have no choice of questions, so you have to have a go
at what is there on the paper; sometimes students panic
and think that they don't understand the question-
maybe because of one particular word- but so long as you
have prepared on all the concepts there will be
something in the question that you recognise.
Words like 'technology', 'convergence', 'distribution',
'marketing', 'digital' come up and you should see them as
your 'hook' into the question. Even if the overall wording
seems to be baffling, look for the terms that are there in
the question and see them as the springboard for your
answer.

4. Don't spend ages on an introduction
You only have 45 minutes to answer the
question, so there isn't time to waffle! A quick
sentence which sets out what you are going to
do and which media area or industry you are
going to use will suffice. You can prepare a lot of
this in your head in advance, so something like:
In this essay, I shall write about (concept) in
relation to the (film, music, radio, etc) industry,
drawing on (examples) as my case studies.

5. Know your examples
Whichever industry you are writing about, you will need examples to
support your points. I would always advocate having some contrasting
examples so that you can look at all angles; for example, you might
have a mainstream high budget film from the USA to contrast with a
low budget independent Uk film, or a major record label to contrast
with a little UK indie label. That way, you can talk about the different
ways in which the industry might operate in different circumstances.
You need not know absolutely eveything about just two examples,
however. It could be that you know about the funding of a particular
low budget film, but don't know about its marketing; in which case
find another example of something similar where you can find out
about its marketing. The important thing is to get a good grasp of the
ways in which the concepts apply rather than every tiny detail of a
specific case study example. What you do need is to make sure you
understand the general principles well and can back up your points
accurately.

6. Try to be systematic
Don't jump about between points; spend a bit of time at
the start of the exam planning the structure of your
answer and working out the main points and examples
for each paragraph. this will ensure that the rest of your
time is spent fruitfully as well. Know what key point you
will make in each paragraph, what examples you will refer
to and how you want to make a case from it all. Use
similarity and difference as starting points for organising
an argument; there will be differences between
mainstream and indie which you might use as your way
through, for example.

7. Make it all legible
Remember, examiners may be old and may have poor
eyesight. Well at least that applies to me! Most students do
not have great handwriting, so make it easier for the examiner
to find the strengths in what you have written. Keep your
paragraphs relatively short- half a page at most. Leave a clear
line between each paragraph. There is nothing in the rules to
say that you can't use a highlighter pen to emphasise your key
examples or terms. Don't overdo this, but it does sometimes
help to draw the reader's attention to points which ought to
pick you up marks.

8. MEDIA STUDIES EXAM
Section B
CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE AND
SYNERGY

9. Example Question
“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital
processes in the successful marketing of media
products to audiences.” To what extent do you
agree with this statement in relation to your
chosen media area?
Do you agree that cross-media convergence and
synergy are important for record labels to
successfully market the music they make.

11. Essay Title:
Intro
Briefly comment that you will use two
case studies to answer the question;
explain why you are using an independent
label and a major label also commenting
on their market share too.
Do you agree that cross-media convergence and
synergy are important for record labels to
successfully market the music they make.

12. Body: Paragraph 1
Make your first major point about how Sony uses synergy to market music.
Contrast this with an example that XL Records also do.
Do you agree that cross-media convergence and synergy are important for record
labels to successfully market the music they make.
Body: Paragraph 2
Make your second major point about how Sony uses synergy to market music.
Contrast this with an example that XL Records also do .
Body: Paragraph 3
Make your third major point about how Sony uses synergy to market music.
This time consider making a point of how XL do things differently.
Body: Paragraph 4
Make your fourth major point about how Sony uses synergy to market music.
Again consider making a point of how XL do things differently.
Body: Paragraph 5
Discuss why cross-media convergence is so important in the marketing of
music
Conclusion
Summarise emphasising that both cross-media convergence and synergy are
integral to the success of both independent and major music labels.