Saturday 30 October 2010
Friday 29 October 2010
Sample Essay
Unit B322 - Section B Answer to specimen exam question
4a) Pick two TV or radio comedies you have studied. Discuss why they were scheduled:
- on the channels that chose them
- on the days and times they were transmitted. (15)
My two comedies are Have I Got News For You and Scrubs.
Have I Got News For You is scheduled on BBC 1 at 9pm on Thursday nights and is repeated with extra bits on Saturdays on BBC2. It fits BBC 1 as it is a mainstream programme that will appeal to a wide audience because it is funny. It is also educational as it covers serious subjects like politics, so this makes it fit public service broadcasting. It is essential the BBC fits public service broadcasting because it is funded by the licence fee and so has to have some reason for charging everyone to watch it.
Thursday night is good for comedy as it is a wind-down time of the week, so BBC 1 always shows comedy at this time. The BBC runs its comedy zone on Thursday nights. After 9pm is good as it is after the watershed and therefore the programme can contain swearing and adult content. The programme that follows (Reggie Perrin) is a comedy as well, this is so it can inherit Have I Got News For You’s audience. The programme can also be watched on the BBC iPlayer.
Scrubs is shown on E4. It shows six episodes a day at 13:05, 13:35, 6:00, 6:30, 00:40, and 01:10 on every weekday, but not at weekends. Scrubs fits E4 because it is a channel aimed at young people – the same target audience as the programme. It is fits because E4 shows a lot of comedy shows, ‘cool’ shows from America. E4 can do this as it is a niche channel that is not covered by PSB regulations as it is not a terrestrial channel. This means that it can have stripped schedules and repeat programmes over and over again that are aimed at young people. This makes it easier for young people to know what is going to be on E4.
Scrubs is shown at the moment at lunchtimes, early evenings and late at night because these are repeated episodes and not considered important enough for prime time. It can also be watched on 4oD.
The BBC does not show lots of imported programmes such as Scrubs because it is supposed to make its own programmes. E4 would not show Have I Got News For You because most of its audience will be older than the E4 audience.
Examiner’s comments
- Covers the BBC 1 audience
- Covers the BBC as an institution
- Explains why Thursday night and explains why after 9pm, but not in much detail
- Covers E4 as an institution and how it targets its audience
Explains times, but not in much detail
- Explains how programmes fit their channels
This answer does what the mark scheme asks for, so it just needs more detail for a higher mark
4b) Show how these two programmes offer their audiences different pleasures. (15 Marks)
Have I Got News For You is very different to Scrubs as it is almost live comedy about recent events in the world, whereas Scrubs is a sitcom where the comedy is based on characters and everyday situations.
Have I Got News For You is ‘infotainment’ as it offers some education on the events of that week, whereas Scrubs episodes are simply for entertainment.
Have I Got News For You has regular stars – Paul Merton and Ian Hislop – that the audience can tune in to see sparing with each other every week. This is similar to the regular characters in Scrubs, such as JD and Turk, who are in some ways like a family that the audience can drop in on regularly. One big difference is that Have I Got News For You is presented by different people every week and has different guests, and the audience can tune in to see who is presenting this week and how well they will do. Scrubs, on the other hand, usually has more or less the same cast in every episode, but different storylines for the audience to follow.
Scrubs is a drama, so it has episodes with narratives that are resolved at the end of the episode. This gives the audience the pleasure of a story being told. Have I Got News For You follows a similar pattern every week, but there is little sense of narrative resolution – one team will win the competition, but this is really a throwaway ending. The quiz is an excuse for people to be funny.
Scrubs will have situations where we can sympathise with characters as well as laugh at them or with them. For example, when JD is unlucky in love. Have I Got News For You is more about people performing for TV as themselves, so we tend to judge them on how well they have performed instead of feeling for them.
Examiner’s comments
- Understands the differences between the programmes
- Shows understanding of how the programmes offer different pleasures, but where are examples?
- Develops this understanding further, but still no detailed examples from the programmes
- This answer does what the top level mark brand asks for, except for detailed and appropriate exemplification. The student needs to study some episodes in detail
- This students has done pretty well. They only had just under half an hour to write these answers. However, they must learn to give more examples from the programmes. They could have used examples of panelists in Have I Got News For You being funny, an example of a storyline in Scrubs that is resolved, and perhaps an example of an everyday situation that is explored in one episode of Scrubs.
4a) Pick two TV or radio comedies you have studied. Discuss why they were scheduled:
- on the channels that chose them
- on the days and times they were transmitted. (15)
My two comedies are Have I Got News For You and Scrubs.
Have I Got News For You is scheduled on BBC 1 at 9pm on Thursday nights and is repeated with extra bits on Saturdays on BBC2. It fits BBC 1 as it is a mainstream programme that will appeal to a wide audience because it is funny. It is also educational as it covers serious subjects like politics, so this makes it fit public service broadcasting. It is essential the BBC fits public service broadcasting because it is funded by the licence fee and so has to have some reason for charging everyone to watch it.
Thursday night is good for comedy as it is a wind-down time of the week, so BBC 1 always shows comedy at this time. The BBC runs its comedy zone on Thursday nights. After 9pm is good as it is after the watershed and therefore the programme can contain swearing and adult content. The programme that follows (Reggie Perrin) is a comedy as well, this is so it can inherit Have I Got News For You’s audience. The programme can also be watched on the BBC iPlayer.
Scrubs is shown on E4. It shows six episodes a day at 13:05, 13:35, 6:00, 6:30, 00:40, and 01:10 on every weekday, but not at weekends. Scrubs fits E4 because it is a channel aimed at young people – the same target audience as the programme. It is fits because E4 shows a lot of comedy shows, ‘cool’ shows from America. E4 can do this as it is a niche channel that is not covered by PSB regulations as it is not a terrestrial channel. This means that it can have stripped schedules and repeat programmes over and over again that are aimed at young people. This makes it easier for young people to know what is going to be on E4.
Scrubs is shown at the moment at lunchtimes, early evenings and late at night because these are repeated episodes and not considered important enough for prime time. It can also be watched on 4oD.
The BBC does not show lots of imported programmes such as Scrubs because it is supposed to make its own programmes. E4 would not show Have I Got News For You because most of its audience will be older than the E4 audience.
Examiner’s comments
- Covers the BBC 1 audience
- Covers the BBC as an institution
- Explains why Thursday night and explains why after 9pm, but not in much detail
- Covers E4 as an institution and how it targets its audience
Explains times, but not in much detail
- Explains how programmes fit their channels
This answer does what the mark scheme asks for, so it just needs more detail for a higher mark
4b) Show how these two programmes offer their audiences different pleasures. (15 Marks)
Have I Got News For You is very different to Scrubs as it is almost live comedy about recent events in the world, whereas Scrubs is a sitcom where the comedy is based on characters and everyday situations.
Have I Got News For You is ‘infotainment’ as it offers some education on the events of that week, whereas Scrubs episodes are simply for entertainment.
Have I Got News For You has regular stars – Paul Merton and Ian Hislop – that the audience can tune in to see sparing with each other every week. This is similar to the regular characters in Scrubs, such as JD and Turk, who are in some ways like a family that the audience can drop in on regularly. One big difference is that Have I Got News For You is presented by different people every week and has different guests, and the audience can tune in to see who is presenting this week and how well they will do. Scrubs, on the other hand, usually has more or less the same cast in every episode, but different storylines for the audience to follow.
Scrubs is a drama, so it has episodes with narratives that are resolved at the end of the episode. This gives the audience the pleasure of a story being told. Have I Got News For You follows a similar pattern every week, but there is little sense of narrative resolution – one team will win the competition, but this is really a throwaway ending. The quiz is an excuse for people to be funny.
Scrubs will have situations where we can sympathise with characters as well as laugh at them or with them. For example, when JD is unlucky in love. Have I Got News For You is more about people performing for TV as themselves, so we tend to judge them on how well they have performed instead of feeling for them.
Examiner’s comments
- Understands the differences between the programmes
- Shows understanding of how the programmes offer different pleasures, but where are examples?
- Develops this understanding further, but still no detailed examples from the programmes
- This answer does what the top level mark brand asks for, except for detailed and appropriate exemplification. The student needs to study some episodes in detail
- This students has done pretty well. They only had just under half an hour to write these answers. However, they must learn to give more examples from the programmes. They could have used examples of panelists in Have I Got News For You being funny, an example of a storyline in Scrubs that is resolved, and perhaps an example of an everyday situation that is explored in one episode of Scrubs.
Thursday 28 October 2010
Section A - Sample Answer - Bourne Identity Extract
B322 June 2010 74/80
1) The events in this extract conform back to the action adventure genre as Jason Bourne is searching for something – his identity. Although this is not a completely generic convention it still features in many films of the genre as the character starts at the beginning of the film searching for something and throughout it they have an adventure in order to find it like Jason Bourne in this extract. He will have to pursue his adventure and along the way there will be many crossroads – a typical storyline for an action adventure film. Another way in which this extract conforms to the genre is by having a dominating male as the protagonist as this is typical of action adventure as it focuses on leading male characters that are the main characters in the story. Bourne is very dominating as Marie asks him whether to use the bathroom and is in control throughout the scene and when the water is cold Marie asks him for his help demonstrating the lead role of his character.
(10 marks)
2) Soundtrack – there is little music in this extract as this heightens the suspense but high pitch pans banging together start during the tense moments in the scene, acting as a warning bell to Jason Bourne’s shock discovery whilst on the phone. When action is building it is typical for an action adventure film to start to play music as it creates more tension. There is a lot of use of non diagetic sounds as well such as the dialling of his phone and the running of water – adding to the realistic atmosphere of the scene.
Camerawork – There are many point of view shots from Bourne’s perspective that use the oblique angle as they are unsteady showing the rush in which the character is in; they used that shot when Bourne was searching for his passport, drawing the audience in to the scene as though they are the character. There is also a long shot of Bourne which shows him by the white light of a window highlighting one contrast between his dark clothes and the sun outside to demonstrate he is trapped and a slightly dark character. Lastly after Bourne has received the news they do a panning shot around his face to portray the emotion on it and to convey that message to the audience as he is shocked.
Editing – At the beginning of the scene there is very slow paced editing to draw out the suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat but as Bourne soon realises whilst on the phone that someone may be in the flat, there are two jump cuts of other areas in the house suggesting they might not be alone creating suspense and dramatic tension as Bourne and the audience know but Marie is unaware. They also show Marie in the bathroom after the shot of Bourne searching through the money and for the passports to highlight the differences between their characters.
Mise-en-scene – Bourne’s costume in this extract is dark and plain where as Marie’s outfit is messy and baggy showing a difference between the two but also to reflect their personality types – Bourne is very dismissive whereas Marie was very cheerful and happy. They use natural lighting of the flat but show Bourne standing against the white light of a window – contrasting the colour of his dark clothes to show his dark personality and his reaction to the news. The setting is very relatable to audiences and this the action adventure genre as it is a flat in an urban area creating sounds such as traffic and alarms from outside highlighting the silence in the flat.
(16 marks)
3) People are represented very differently in this extract as Jason Bourne is represented as a dominant male – stereotypical of a strong male character in this genre as Marie asks him whether she can use the bathroom. It also portrays him as very impatient and dismissive as he hangs up the phone and doesn’t really listen to Marie. They also show him in dark clothes illustrating his low mood and also to show darkness to his personality. Whereas Marie is shown as a stereotypical woman; she is obsessed about her vanity – looking in the mirror and adjusting her hair but this also reveals her very normal personality and how she does the usual things people do whereas Bourne has a bag full of money and fake passports – showing the difference between their lives as Bourne’s is far from normality. The extract also shows Bourne as a very neat and thorough person as in his flat all the books are in order and the camera shows a shot of him taking his pen lid off – the notebook is already there. Whereas Maria first drops her shoes on the floor and leaves them there clearly an untidy person which is a-typical as in most situations women are usually the more tidy people. Each character has a very different personality which is reflected by their actions in the extract and also by the camera angles as many shots of Bourne are long shots – showing his rigid stance as he awaits the news whereas Maria is shown through low angle and mid shots showing the laidback style of her personality.
(18 marks)
Principal Examiner’s Comments
B322 June 2010 (Bourne Identity)
One of the best answers in the June 2010 exam.
Question 1
Explain two ways the characters and/or events in the extract fit the action adventure genre.
This answer shows thorough understanding of generic conventions, both of which are explained. The supporting evidence from the extract is perhaps the weakest part of this answer but the candidate does cite Marie asking Bourne whether she can use the bathroom, and the examiners were instructed to be generous on this point given the lack of textual evidence in the inadvertently shortened extract for this exam.
10/10
Question 2
Explain how each of the following is used to create effects that fit the action adventure genre:
• soundtrack
• camerawork
• editing
• mise-en-scène.
Some errors – the misunderstanding of non-diegetic sound and the erroneous statements about ‘many point of view shots’, the ‘panning shot around his face’, and the ‘two jump cuts of other areas of the house’ - but this is otherwise competent and detailed. All four bullet points are addressed. The understanding of connotative effect is through and clearly lifts the answer into level four. Accuracy in the use of terminology is the weakest part of this answer and limits it to the bottom of level four, but there is some accurate use.
16/20
Question 3
Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract.
Make reference to stereotypes.
This answer only addresses one representation issue – gender stereotyping – but does this thoroughly and with detailed reference to the text. Aspects of characterisation are clearly linked to gender stereotypes, showing through understanding of representation issues. This answer is rather short, but clearly attains level four.
18/20
1) The events in this extract conform back to the action adventure genre as Jason Bourne is searching for something – his identity. Although this is not a completely generic convention it still features in many films of the genre as the character starts at the beginning of the film searching for something and throughout it they have an adventure in order to find it like Jason Bourne in this extract. He will have to pursue his adventure and along the way there will be many crossroads – a typical storyline for an action adventure film. Another way in which this extract conforms to the genre is by having a dominating male as the protagonist as this is typical of action adventure as it focuses on leading male characters that are the main characters in the story. Bourne is very dominating as Marie asks him whether to use the bathroom and is in control throughout the scene and when the water is cold Marie asks him for his help demonstrating the lead role of his character.
(10 marks)
2) Soundtrack – there is little music in this extract as this heightens the suspense but high pitch pans banging together start during the tense moments in the scene, acting as a warning bell to Jason Bourne’s shock discovery whilst on the phone. When action is building it is typical for an action adventure film to start to play music as it creates more tension. There is a lot of use of non diagetic sounds as well such as the dialling of his phone and the running of water – adding to the realistic atmosphere of the scene.
Camerawork – There are many point of view shots from Bourne’s perspective that use the oblique angle as they are unsteady showing the rush in which the character is in; they used that shot when Bourne was searching for his passport, drawing the audience in to the scene as though they are the character. There is also a long shot of Bourne which shows him by the white light of a window highlighting one contrast between his dark clothes and the sun outside to demonstrate he is trapped and a slightly dark character. Lastly after Bourne has received the news they do a panning shot around his face to portray the emotion on it and to convey that message to the audience as he is shocked.
Editing – At the beginning of the scene there is very slow paced editing to draw out the suspense and keep the audience on the edge of their seat but as Bourne soon realises whilst on the phone that someone may be in the flat, there are two jump cuts of other areas in the house suggesting they might not be alone creating suspense and dramatic tension as Bourne and the audience know but Marie is unaware. They also show Marie in the bathroom after the shot of Bourne searching through the money and for the passports to highlight the differences between their characters.
Mise-en-scene – Bourne’s costume in this extract is dark and plain where as Marie’s outfit is messy and baggy showing a difference between the two but also to reflect their personality types – Bourne is very dismissive whereas Marie was very cheerful and happy. They use natural lighting of the flat but show Bourne standing against the white light of a window – contrasting the colour of his dark clothes to show his dark personality and his reaction to the news. The setting is very relatable to audiences and this the action adventure genre as it is a flat in an urban area creating sounds such as traffic and alarms from outside highlighting the silence in the flat.
(16 marks)
3) People are represented very differently in this extract as Jason Bourne is represented as a dominant male – stereotypical of a strong male character in this genre as Marie asks him whether she can use the bathroom. It also portrays him as very impatient and dismissive as he hangs up the phone and doesn’t really listen to Marie. They also show him in dark clothes illustrating his low mood and also to show darkness to his personality. Whereas Marie is shown as a stereotypical woman; she is obsessed about her vanity – looking in the mirror and adjusting her hair but this also reveals her very normal personality and how she does the usual things people do whereas Bourne has a bag full of money and fake passports – showing the difference between their lives as Bourne’s is far from normality. The extract also shows Bourne as a very neat and thorough person as in his flat all the books are in order and the camera shows a shot of him taking his pen lid off – the notebook is already there. Whereas Maria first drops her shoes on the floor and leaves them there clearly an untidy person which is a-typical as in most situations women are usually the more tidy people. Each character has a very different personality which is reflected by their actions in the extract and also by the camera angles as many shots of Bourne are long shots – showing his rigid stance as he awaits the news whereas Maria is shown through low angle and mid shots showing the laidback style of her personality.
(18 marks)
Principal Examiner’s Comments
B322 June 2010 (Bourne Identity)
One of the best answers in the June 2010 exam.
Question 1
Explain two ways the characters and/or events in the extract fit the action adventure genre.
This answer shows thorough understanding of generic conventions, both of which are explained. The supporting evidence from the extract is perhaps the weakest part of this answer but the candidate does cite Marie asking Bourne whether she can use the bathroom, and the examiners were instructed to be generous on this point given the lack of textual evidence in the inadvertently shortened extract for this exam.
10/10
Question 2
Explain how each of the following is used to create effects that fit the action adventure genre:
• soundtrack
• camerawork
• editing
• mise-en-scène.
Some errors – the misunderstanding of non-diegetic sound and the erroneous statements about ‘many point of view shots’, the ‘panning shot around his face’, and the ‘two jump cuts of other areas of the house’ - but this is otherwise competent and detailed. All four bullet points are addressed. The understanding of connotative effect is through and clearly lifts the answer into level four. Accuracy in the use of terminology is the weakest part of this answer and limits it to the bottom of level four, but there is some accurate use.
16/20
Question 3
Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract.
Make reference to stereotypes.
This answer only addresses one representation issue – gender stereotyping – but does this thoroughly and with detailed reference to the text. Aspects of characterisation are clearly linked to gender stereotypes, showing through understanding of representation issues. This answer is rather short, but clearly attains level four.
18/20
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