Essay Plan – Section A – Question 1bIn Question 1(b) you must write about one of your media coursework productions. The question will ask you to apply a key concept (narrative/genre/audience/representation/media language) to your production.A typical question could be: Apply the concept of narrative to one of your coursework productions.INTRODUCTION

Define the concept – What is narrative/genre/audience/representation/media language?

“Narrative is the way in which a story is created though a set of codes and conventions.”

Explain briefly what you made.

“Our music video, from the House genre, had the story of a girl who ate a mysterious cupcake which transformed her into various fantasy worlds. This narrative crossed with the girl performing in her band the song, ‘My Head is a Jungle’.”

Make a statement about what you intend to do in this essay.

“In this essay, I will discuss how we applied narrative theory in the creation of our video.”

MAIN BODY OF ESSAY Break your essay down into 3-4 paragraphs; each about a different

theory linking to the question. Each paragraph should follow this structure:

o POINT: Introduce the theory – Whose theory is it? What did they suggest/link to real world texts? Summarise their theory in 1-2 sentences.

o EVIDENCE: Provide specific examples from your production piece to show how you applied/subverted this theory. You need to include at least 2 but ideally 3 or 4 examples from your production piece in each paragraph.

o EXPLAIN: Explain why you applied or challenged this theory (ie. What was your intended impact upon the audience).

o Link back to the first point of the paragraph and/or the original question.

An example of an A grade paragraph:

“Goodwin says that music videos are an ‘extension of the lyrics’. Having watched real media texts ‘Katy B – ‘Broken Record’, we noted the way the story was told through such things as repeating clips to portray the “broken record”. Our music video expressed the lyrics, for example, the lyric ‘jungle’ was demonstrated through the cross-cutting between different scenes in the narrative to show confusion. This was furthered through repeated close-ups of the girl looking confused over repetition of the word ‘jungle’. Furthermore, the concept of confusion over love was in the lyric ‘in a dark room we fight, make up for our love’. Thus our music video creates disjuncture by showing a high key white room over the ‘dark lyric’ to accentuate the lyrics through stark contrast. The concept of escapism from this ‘love’ is presented through eating this magical cupcake. The cupcake becomes part of the narrative as an indexical sign for escape. The narrative parallels with that of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to use intertextuality to enhance narrative understanding. The concept of escape is furthered through the contrast between dark ordinary performance and the colourful tie dye and the powder paint in the narrative scenes. Thus our music video narrative can be seen as an extension of the lyrics”

Let’s break that down a little further:o Introduce the theory:

Goodwin says that music videos are an ‘extension of the lyrics’. Having watched real media texts ‘Katy B – ‘Broken Record’, we noted the way the story was told through such things as repeating clips to portray the “broken record”.

o Theory applied to the finished text:Example 1: Our music video expressed the lyrics, for example, the lyric ‘jungle’ was demonstrated through the cross-cutting between different scenes in the narrative to show confusion. This was furthered through repeated close-ups of the girl looking confused over repetition of the word ‘jungle’.

Example 2: Furthermore, the concept of confusion over love was in the lyric ‘in a dark room we fight, make up for our love’. Thus our music video creates disjuncture by showing a high key white room over the ‘dark lyric’ to accentuate the lyrics through stark contrast.

Example 3: The concept of escapism from this ‘love’ is presented through eating this magical cupcake. The cupcake becomes part of the narrative as an indexical sign for escape. The narrative parallels with that of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to use intertextuality to enhance narrative understanding.

Example 4 The concept of escape is furthered through the contrast between dark ordinary performance and the colourful tie dye and the powder paint in the narrative scenes.

o Link back to first point of paragraphThus our music video narrative can be seen as an extension of the lyrics.

CONCLUSION Provide a short statement to explain:

o How far have you employed this concept?o How far have you challenged it?o How effective were real media texts in inspiring your use of

genre/narrative/representations etc?o How influential was (insert theorist, theory or idea) in the planning and

production of your piece?

MAKE SURE YOU USE TECHNICAL LANGUAGE CONSISTENTLY AND ACCURATELY!For example:“Goodwin says that music videos are an ‘extension of the lyrics’. Having watched real media texts ‘Katy B – ‘Broken Record’, we noted the way the story was told through such things as repeating clips to portray the “broken record”. Our music video expressed the lyrics, for example, the lyric ‘jungle’ was demonstrated

through the cross-cutting between different scenes in the narrative to show confusion. This was furthered through repeated close-ups of the girl looking confused over repetition of the word ‘jungle’. Furthermore, the concept of confusion over love was in the lyric ‘in a dark room we fight, make up for our love’. Thus our music video creates disjuncture by showing a high key white room over the ‘dark lyric’ to accentuate the lyrics through stark contrast. The concept of escapism from this ‘love’ is presented through eating this magical cupcake. The cupcake becomes part of the narrative as an indexical sign for escape. The narrative parallels with that of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ to use intertextuality to enhance narrative understanding. The concept of escape is furthered through the contrast between dark ordinary performance and the colourful tie dye and the powder paint in the narrative scenes. Thus our music video narrative can be seen as an extension of the lyrics”

WHAT THE MARK SCHEME SAYS:

To achieve an A GRADE:

Candidates can:

Demonstrate a clear understanding of the key concept and relevant media theory

Relate concepts articulately to the production outcome, describing specific elements in relation to theoretical ideas about either narrative/genre/audience/representation/media language

Offer a range of specific, relevant, interesting and clear examples of how their product can be understood in relation to relevant theories

Use conceptual language articulately

Express complex issues clearly and fluently using a style of writing appropriate to the complex subject matter

Produce written work where sentences and paragraphs, which are consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar