Friday, 28 April 2017

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Past papers, in order.

Oldest to newest:



Age 
Gender
Race
Gender
Gender 
Class 
Sexuality 
Disability
Age
Regional identity
Class
Race

Gender

Sexuality and disability have only featured once each, making them strong candidates. Gender and race are the most recent ones, so might not come up again; however, they have shown with gender that they're not afraid to repeat themselves if they find the right extract!


Examiner's report on Sherlock responses

Read this and bullet point advice to yourself.



The extract on Sherlock Holmes and the representation of gender was fair and engaged with by candidates. Overall, candidates addressed the representation of gender well, and the extract clearly helped differentiate between candidates’ responses. Question 1 demanded that candidates engage with a variety of gender representations on masculinity and femininity across three key scenes - providing a plethora of opportunities for textual analysis. A full range of responses was evident; weaker candidates adopted descriptive approaches while stronger candidates were able to demonstrate analytical skills as well as the ability to construct an argument out of the material available to them. The lowest marked candidates produced work that was basic and on occasion minimal. Where candidates offered description or narrative on the question set they rarely achieved above a level two for basic work. Those that achieved well offered detailed and sustained arguments relating to the discussion of gender demonstrated points made with a range of salient examples across all four technical areas, and offered a discussion of the constructed hierarchies within the extract either in relation to masculinity, femininity or both.
It was noted that discussion of gender stereotypes dominated many responses, but often with the ubiquitous use of the term stereotype. Further there was a varying degree of success with this key concept: at times it was used to categorise gender differences as either positive or negative without demonstrating how a stereotype can also be subverted as well. Weaker candidates offered simple points around stereotypes and countertypes, often basing their discussion largely around dialogue and body language. However, most candidates addressed the issue of gender representation and on the whole candidates dealt with the technical elements well, though typically the two areas which are traditionally under addressed are those of sound and editing:Candidates are often reliant on identification of the technical element rather than demonstrating how perspective was created through the use of sound and editing, and how this could impact upon the representation of gender. The most common misconception in candidates’ responses was the use of the term ‘jump cut. The term was routinely used to describe a cut to a different scene or sequence. Also, Centre’s need to be reminded that media theory is not a requirement for this question, and if candidates do use theories of representation or audience in the response it needs to be applicable and evidenced in relation to technical analysis. 

Friday, 6 January 2017

Race: your articles


Milo sent in these clips late - but they're from great films, to be fair. His comments are below each clip:




To Kill A Mockingbird clip:





This clip shows racism within the judicial courts of America in the 20th century through the jury refusing a man’s innocents because he is black, even though his innocents is clear. The clip shows black people in the deep south as being isolated, alienated and criminalized.


 


Boyz 'N the Hood clip:




This clip shows the brutal and unfair treatment of black people by the police in Los Angeles, even by officers who themselves are black which may subvert stereotypes of black people sticking together and trying to fight the racist system because a black cop has joined that very racist structure.




Wasim sent these two thoughtful contributions:


This link is of a site based of the bechdel test, however, it differentiates itself by using a series of questions based on race to decipher whether certain films pass the test or not.  The main questions asked are whether there are more than one characters of colour in the film, whether said characters converse with each other and whether their conversation was about a white character.


This article is about the little screen time actors of colour have in the film industry, and suggests interesting ideas about how to tackle the issues risen, it also brings to attention the typical portrayals of coloured people found in movies; such as the ‘black thug’, the ‘awkward desexualised Asian’ etc.


Gokce found an article based on votes made by the public and how they believemedia coverage represents ethnic minorities.

and this racist ad:
This advert launched in 2007 by intel advertising a new, faster duo processor has been marked as a racist.  Having a white manager standing over six athletes, whom all happen to be black, bowing in perfect symmetry before him can be seen as a connotation of slavery.


Nile googled 'racial stereotypes in the media' then sent me this. From his phone.

He also sent me this without reading it:



Rebecca sent me these three articles and had clearly given them some thought:

Amelia had this to say about the clip beneath:

The clip I chose is from 12 Years A Slave and is called "Run N*igger Run". It shows a white man exclaiming and commanding a black slave who is running and is in haste carry out an errand in order to excuse his consequence. This supports the ideology that black people are inferior to white people. The diegetic sound of the loud breaths coming from the black man express his fatigue and distress and make the audience sympathise with the black man. The extreme long shot used here also separates the black man from the white man as, during that time, the two races were separated in society due to the apartheid, which was then lifted following Martin Luther King's fondness and anger towards the racism that black people faced.


I also found this article which portrays positive discrimination that black people experience.The example used here is about a black applicant being chosen for the role as atv presenter due to her race. Although this shows acceptance and development within the world, it comes with many critiques as some black people are merely angered due to the fact that she wasn't employed because of her excellent and outstanding qualifications, but rather based on the fact that she was black.


Sebastian found the exact same clip as Nile:

But at least he said this:
Subverts the dominant ideology that white males are polite and aren’t criminals
Subverts the dominant ideology that black males are violent and thieves by showing a white person robbing the store whilst the Asian shopkeeper is too busy harassing him for his race.
Reinforces the dominant ideology that Asian people are less tolerant and more weary of black people because they follow racial stereotypes.

He also found this:
And said this:
Reinforces the dominant ideology that black people are trouble makers: Black man seen shooting, Dwayne Johnson generally seen in the centre of mayhem in most shots.
However this is also subverted when a cop at the end of the video is seen to be black and acting more rational than Dwayne and his friend.
Reinforces the dominant ideology that black people supress white people; at the end of the movie “You don’t get to say that, right on! Come on brother…” And a fist bump which shows their unity.
Subverts the dominant ideology that black people look out for themselves: woman screams help me in a fire and the main character rescues her.

Efeosa sent me a link with this subject line:
This article talks about Adele and how she casted a black guy in that hello video to address police brutality.
You might want to read the article for an actual opinion.

He also did another subject line explanation here
This article talks about the increase of interracial marriages between people progressing (NEW YORK TIMES)