AS Media Exam - Exemplar 'A' grade response

OCR G322 AS Media Studies

 Time allowed – 2 hrs.

Answer Section A: Question 1 and Section B: Question 2

Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation

WATCH THE UNSEEN MOVING IMAGE EXTRACT

• You are allowed 2 minutes to read the Section A Question
• The extract will be screened 4 times
• For the first time just watch
• During the second screening take notes
• There will be a 5 minute gap between the first and the second screening when you are advised to take further notes
• The extract will be screened a third and fourth time during which you can again take notes
• Ensure you strike through your notes with a diagonal line before the end of the exam

Answer the question below, with detailed reference to specific examples from the extract only:

Extract: Doctor Who – ‘The Christmas Invasion’. Doctor Who was first screened on the BBC in 1963; this clip is the opening of the 2005 Christmas Special introducing the actor David Tennant as the new Doctor.

1. Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representations of gender using the following:                                                                                     (50 Marks)                                                                        

• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scene

This is the first full episode of Doctor Who starring Tennant, an actor who was and is typecast in unusual roles. The episode starts by showing the BBC ident which for many audiences is a promise of pleasure in terms of production values but also arguably a signifier of mainstream representations which links to the representation of gender (both the programme and channel have a reputation for tradition and Doctor Who has an obsessive fan base as well as a mainstream fan base and occasional viewer). Close ups of a Christmas bauble intercut with the planets encode connotations of Science Fiction which traditionally and stereotypically attract male audiences and would have expectations of this in relation to gender representation. The bauble also signifies the time period for audiences while the mise-en-scene indicates a typical working class household in terms of objects and props and furnishings. Stereotypically we see a woman tending the Christmas tree who we later find out is the mother of Dr Who’s assistant played by Billie Piper – the mother conforms to the cultural stereotype of a blonde, casually dressed, working class housewife and this is anchored by her accent and restricted language code. Traditional family values would be recognised by audiences.

Emotive, non diegetic incidental music ensures audience absorb that it is the season of good will (it was broadcast on Christmas Day) while the domestic scene then cuts to a motor vehicle workshop – these two scenes ensure audiences understand a form of equilibrium has been established. In the workshop are male motor mechanics which again conforms to the gender stereotyping already establishing with intertextual references to Eastenders suggest working class culture is being represented. Diegetic sounds of the radio playing Slade’s famous Christmas hit ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ signifies the time of year and reinforces the ‘normality’ of the situation. Disruption to the equilibrium is in the form of unusual diegetic sounds, which audiences with cultural capital would recognise as the sound of the iconic Tardis, Doctor Who’s Space Ship-come Police Telephone Box. Star marketing initially arouses audience expectations in the guise of Kidulthood director and actor Noel Clarke who races out into the street to follow the sounds. The scene cuts to a crane shot (aerial shot) establishing location via a bird’s eye view – it is a London council estate.

Multiple camera technology (encoding high production values) and fast paced editing heralds the arrival of the Tardis as a low angle shot reveals the arrival, dramatically crashing into buildings before coming to rest in front of the protagonists who have raced out to see what is happening. A shot of the Tardis door sees it open to reveal Doctor Who as David Tennant standing, framed in medium shot, wide eyed and as shocked as the bystanders who have rushed out into the street. This is the first introduction audiences would have to the ‘new Doctor’ so representations have to be established swiftly to ensure narrative continuity for the programme – immediately we see he conforms to the established, eccentric representation that tradition has established for Doctor Who; he is not just wide eyed but pulling unusual facial expressions and seems ‘unusual’ in some way. This conforms to John Ellis’ theory of the ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’ where protagonists seem like us (the Doctor appears human and looks like us) but has extraordinary powers (he is a Time Lord and Time Traveller that younger audiences would aspire to through his escapist representation).

The mise-en-scene further reveals his representation as although the cultural stereotype of an eccentric scientist (common in the Science Fiction genre) but also as a character who has been framed for the female gaze – David Tennant has a significant female fan base who are attracted by his unusual, dynamic representation in the same way that the Hollywood star Johnny Depp is often framed. The Doctor is wearing all black and a black leather jacket, which has connotations of hyper real, stylish masculinity. He moves forward swiftly and greets his friends (who fail to recognise him because he has ‘regenerated’ as the new Doctor). He embraces them, controls the narrative space, wishes them ‘Happy Christmas’ but then collapses. This allows for next shot to cut to the Doctor’s assistant, Rose who also appears from the Tardis as before, played by Billie Piper.

Audiences will be familiar with the role of Rose as she was assistant to the previous Doctor. She is framed centrally in close up with blonde hair, blue eyes again adhering to the stereotype of a glamorous assistant – tradition dictates that Doctor Who is always male and has always had a female, good looking travelling companion who is framed for the male gaze as a hegemonic cultural stereotype. Audiences would also recognise Billie Piper from her singing career where again she was invariably objectified for male audiences and seen as role model for young female fans. Later on in her career she continued to use this representation in Diary of a Call Girl. The camera cuts to Rose’s mother who utters in response to the word ‘Doctor’, ‘Doctor Who’ which immediately allows for (in terms of narrative timing) the opening sequences to roll. Familiarity is further established by the non-diegetic theme tune and CGI special effects showing the Tardis travelling through space.

Act 1 of what audiences would expect to be a classic three-act structure begins to unfold as ‘the problem’ and key characters are introduced. The Doctor is nursed by Rose and her mother and it is clear he is ‘the special one’ for Rose as she talks of her feelings for him which again is common for the Doctor – to ensure his hyper real, masculine representation continues Doctor Who scriptwriters have often written a back story that involves unrequited love for him in regards to whoever has played his assistant and the Billie Piper character follows this pattern. The concept suggests that because she has witnessed him overcome every enemy, save the world, save planets, successfully battle the Daleks and the Cybermen she is in love with him. A similar representation and relationship has existed within the Bond franchise but with more overtly sexualised representations. Rose is seen in close up tending to the Doctor who is lying still in bed – she speaks softly, examines his ‘two hearts’ to make sure they are still beating again ensuring notions of exclusivity and the concept of extraordinary is maintained for audiences even while he is inactive.

The next shot reveals Rose and her mother watching a news item on television about a Martian Space Probe bringing information back to Earth with a piece to camera by a female Prime Minister – this reflects a more pluralistic approach to gender representation with a female in charge of the country but the choice of actress is interesting using Penelope Wilton who often plays weak and vulnerable characters and would be known to some audiences as playing Shaun’s mother in Shaun of the Dead. The representation of gender on the whole is mainstream and stereotypical however reflecting the tradition and history of the programme and the younger target audiences. Representations have evolved over time but still conform to audience expectations.

Section B: Institutions and Audiences

Answer the question below, making detailed reference to examples from your case study material to support the points made in your answer.

2. What impact does media ownership have upon the range of products available to audiences in the media area you have studied?     (50 Marks)                                                                                                                       

Mainstream film production globally is controlled by The Big Six Hollywood film distributors/studios while the rights to independent film production tends to be owned by a number of smaller independent production companies and individual Directors e.g. Shane Meadows and East Midlands Media producing films such as This is England (2006) and Somers Town (2008).

Film ownership is complicated but essentially bigger budget, mainstream films like Star Trek (2009) tend to be often owned, in terms of film rights by one of the ‘Big Six’ because they are the distributor who has made the most significant investment in the production – normally both in terms of production budget and distribution. The Big Six oligopoly are Warner Brothers (Harry Potter franchise), 20^th Century Fox (Ice Age), Paramount (Star Trek/Star Trek into Darkness), Disney (Pirates of the Caribbean), Sony who own Columbia Tri Star and MGM (Skyfall) and Universal (The Bourne Legacy). Globally these companies dominate the film industry, particularly in the US and the UK and in terms of access dominate cinema exhibition.

This pattern of global film ownership in recent years has been that these organisations in turn have been bought by multinational conglomerates such as the News Corporation (20^th Century Fox), NBC Universal (Universal), Time Warner (Warner) and Viacom (Paramount). This has meant for the film industry more synergy, convergence, merchandising opportunities, higher production values, saturated distribution, star marketing and a wider access to a range of products for mass audiences. These products include cinema exhibited film, DVD/Blu Ray, digital distribution e.g. through Amazon and Love Film all giving easier access to mainstream films and dominating access to digital technology. Sony PlayStation evidences synergy through streaming films via the console while Microsoft X Box can evidence synergy through streaming via Netflix.

Star Trek is a successful and long running film and television franchise owned by Paramount Studios – it is a valuable brand which has extended into a twelfth film in 2013, Star Trek into Darkness. Owned and distributed by Paramount it currently has (as of March 2013) a saturated advertising campaign and as with the previous film was exhibited in over 500 multiplex cinemas in the UK. This is evidence of the control through ownership of a films release ensuring maximum coverage to attract mass audiences – Star Trek (2009) had deliberately in its marketing campaign tried to attract a wider range of audience, moving away from the science fiction stereotype to ensure the film was a blockbuster success at the cinema attracting a broader male and female demographic. Paramount’s funding allowed for supreme high production values and the star marketing of Director JJ Abrams as a unique selling point.

Saturated media coverage included high concept trailers both in the cinema an on television and an approach that used the multi platform opportunities that a film distributed by a major Hollywood studio could exploit. Additional specifics of the campaign included digital marketing on Lost and Fringe web pages (television programmes produced by JJ Abrams), www.imdb.com adverts (expensive), Sky Sports super headers and a Star Trek logo as cursor icon on the Yahoo home page. Facebook applications exploited web 2.0, fan kits and wallpapers could be downloaded and synergy was evident with Sony PlayStation. Magazine covers were devoted to the films release including Big Issue, GQ and Esquire. With synergy the range of products available goes beyond the film whether as a theatrical release, on DVD or Blu Ray, merchandising its own products or as downloadable or streamed content – key promotions were secured with mainstream food outlets such as Burger King where you received a free ‘Star Wars Movie Toy’ with your meal, competitions at Phones4U and Hamleys and a Heat magazine promo which encouraged the stereotypical female reader to become engaged with the film. The result was predictable in that Star Trek was commercially successful and the 7^th biggest box office film in 2009 taking 20% of the international box office that year. Paramount spent big to make big.

One of the key impacts of the Hollywood studio dominance is the effect on the British film industry – for many years British film, with key exceptions such as The King’s Speech (funded by private equity firm Prescience and the UK Film Council) British film has on the whole had to rely on Hollywood investment to achieve critical success. British film has achieved almost the status of local culture with most mainstream multiplex cinemas catering for an artificially created and maintained hegemony for Hollywood film. British film stereotypically tends to be narrative and production led while American film is distribution led. Iconic British films like The Full Monty and Slumdog Millionaire were both distributed by 20^th Century Fox with much of the profits going back to this organisation. Working Title, the British production company owned by Universal Studios almost exclusively specialises in producing British films for mass audiences that are distributed by its parent company – an example of many UK/US collaborations. Harry Potter and Bond films can be categorised as culturally British but they are underpinned by Hollywood institutional factors including investment, production and distribution.

British Film commercial successes focus on specific genres such as the Period Drama and the RomCom while British Film’s most critically successful genre is Social Realism. Non-realist Hollywood escapist films like Avatar, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter belong to the successful fantasy genre while another key success in terms of genre in Hollywood would be Science Fiction, Action and Comedy. This brings us into the realm of definitions – arguably one of the most important effects of the Hollywood hegemony in terms of ownership has been the continued success of independent film.  Independent films, although having limited distribution due to lack of ‘ownership’ by major studios/distributors have the opportunity for their products to be distributed using a range of digital outlets but to a niche audience. Independent British Films like This is England tend to offer more realist representations which explore complex narrative themes while UK Films that collaborate with Hollywood studios often have positive outcomes to appeal to mass audiences. British Film has benefited (only critically) from a range of independent distributors e.g. Optimum (This is England), Icon (Looking for Eric) and Vertigo (Football Factory) although Vertigo in 2009 collaborated with Hollywood for  their first UK/US collaboration – The Firm which was a remake of the 1989 Alan Clarke film starring a young Gary Oldman playing a football hooligan, a culturally British storyline used many times before in Green Street, ID and Football Factory.

A key collaboration for independent British Film has been between Film4 and the UK Film Council (now a disbanded Quango) on many films. This ensured another site of exhibition (Film4) that along with the historical UK Film Council’s Funds (Premiere Fund, New Cinema Fund, Development Fund and Prints and Advertising Fund) were looking to sustain success within the British Film Industry. The UK Film Council’s role has now been subsumed by the BFI. Fish Tank (2009) was released the same year as Star Trek but under very different circumstances. The film only was distributed to 40 cinemas but achieved a significant degree of critical success including winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and nomination for the Palm D’Or. In 2010 it won the Best British Film BAFTA. In complete binary opposition to a film like Star Trek, owned and distributed by Paramount Studios in securing commercial success, Fish Tank like many British films, use the theatrical release at the cinema as marketing platform. It was produced by the Director, Andrea Arnold’s production company suggesting auteur ownership and was awarded funding from the UK Film Council’s Prints and Advertising Fund (£70,000), £644,000 from the Development Fund and a further £20,000 going into production.

In terms of distribution the small Artificial Eye Company took it on with a reputation for involvement in so called ‘World Cinema’, Art House and critically successful films. The production budget was £1.8m, which is considered high for an independent film (Shifty cost £100,000). Although major studios are investing in the future of digital distribution currently, there is more of an opportunity for independent films to exploit this format despite the oligopoly domination of Hollywood. Obvious commercial boundaries between major studio ownership and more independent productions arguably are being challenged with perhaps the cultural imperialism of Hollywood as less dominant – this potentially could be an oppositional reading with the ability for Hollywood to constantly reinvent itself and exploit every opportunity from the early studio system to star marketing, to high production values to the blockbuster format to symbiotic relationships with multiplex distributors to high concept films to event movies to technology such as 3D and online distribution. Ownership of the means of production and distribution ensures commercial and ideological dominance is maintained.