Top Five Tips for Exam Success……………………………….

1. Students must ensure they cover all four technical areas although depending on the extract it may not be relevant to cover each in equal depth.

2. Whilst it must be written in continuous prose students should not waste time with an introduction and conclusion-go straight into analysis

3. Students should look at a wide variety of TV Drama’s but representation and how it is ‘constructed’ through the technical areas must be the primary focus. They do not need to study the genre in depth.

4. Whilst the extract will be a British TV Drama, US TV Dramas can be used a rich area of study and provide some interesting representations that students can engage with.

5. Practical work is a great way to help students engage with textual analysis and experience of filming, editing and sound is key to their understanding of how and why these are used. Storyboarding, short practical tasks and blogging/DVD commentaries are all useful ways to develop their media skills and consolidate understanding.

Some suggested texts for each area of representation:

Gender

Sopranos, Mistresses (BBC 1), Cracker, Teachers, Desperate Housewives, Eastenders, Mad Men (BBC2) Spooks

Age

Skins (C4) Fat Friends,Eastenders, Teachers, Waterloo Road

Ethnicity

White Girl (BBC) Britz, The Wire (HBO) Eastenders, ER

Social Class

Shameless, This Life, The Wire

Regional Identity

West LDN 10, Coronation Street, Eastenders, Shameless

Sexuality The Wire, Sugar Rush, Skins, Six Feet Under, Queer as Folk

Disability Coming Down the Mountain, Desperate Housewives