JAN & JUNE 2009 EXAM QUESTIONS ON FILM

Discuss the ways in which media products are produced and distributed to audiences in an area you have studied (Jan 2009)

Although the question was a wide one, many candidates still failed to focus their discussion and case study material on the production and distribution phases of media production. The best answers showed awareness of the ways in which institutions shape and distribute products in order to meet the demands of their audiences and to make profit; they were able to illustrate this with detailed reference to case study material.
 

Those candidates who could use their case studies and really focus on the question rather than simply regurgitating the whole case study, wrote some interesting and well founded answers. Overall the best candidates related closely to the focus of the question, writing about the relationship between audience and industry with particular emphasis on the production and distribution side of the industry. Centres are advised to refer to and use the questions on page 20 of the Specification and to ensure coverage of key institutional concepts such as synergy, cross media convergence, media technologies and audience consumption. This will aid the candidates’ conceptual understanding of institutions and audiences. It is also necessary for candidates to address the question set, rather than offer a general address of institutional practices across the board.

Popular case studies included the study of UK film companies such as Working Title and Film Four, which provided plenty of promising material, particularly when their working practices were contrasted with Hollywood equivalents. Some centres had prepared candidates for this unit with single text studies (i.e. of an individual film), which clearly did not provide candidates with sufficient knowledge of wider institutional and audience contexts to tackle the question set. Institutional questions, which dealt with a comparison of successful American institutions versus less commercially successful home grown UK industries often worked well.

The contrast of a large US studio like Time Warner versus DNA Films was useful. Candidates with an entirely British view, Working Title on its own, or Big Arty Productions and independent British film making, for example, Bullet Boy and This is England also fared very well, but would benefit with some comparison to Hollywood practice. Examiners noted that up to date referencing of the new boom in 3D films was done very well by one or two centres and candidates were able to discuss the download of movies through home communication networks and the impact of Blue Ray DVD on film consumption.

How important is technological convergence for audiences and institutions in an area you have studied? (June 2009) Examiners’ Report:

In discussion of how important technological convergence is for the film industry, more able candidates could develop an argument which could discuss and evaluate how technological convergence enables effective digital distribution, supports viral marketing campaigns, such as the Dark Knight creates media synergy and, for example, the use of Sony BMG to record the soundtrack, and merchandising tie in deals. These able candidates could also evaluate how institutions and audiences used media technology across different platforms, for example on the iPod and other mobile devices/phones and the use of social networking sites to share and offer fan comments. Candidates also discussed downloading (including the issue of internet piracy) films, but did not give specific examples of websites or how you could subsequently watch the movies. On occasion candidates could offer criticism that independent and often British film releases which do not have the budget of major conglomerate film studios had to find alternative non- convergent methods of distribution and marketing.

Centres need reminding that historical case studies of film studios, such as Hammer or Ealing film studios is not apart of the requirement for the study of film institution and audiences. At the same time if centres are using contemporary resources, such as The Boat That Rocked or Slumdog Millionaire, that they ensure candidates have an academic understanding of the film’s institution and audience and not simply rely upon the prepared reading of the text and its marketing campaign alone.

Far too many candidates seemed to have been prepared with historical accounts of particular institutions which did not address contemporary issues of institutional or audience practices - Working Title was frequently used as a case study but with little contemporary material in evidence. Popular case studies included the study of UK film companies such as Working Title and Film Four, which provided plenty of promising material, particularly when their working practices were contrasted with Hollywood equivalents, such as the Dark Knight. Some centres had prepared candidates for this unit with single text studies (ie of an individual film), which clearly did not provide candidates with sufficient knowledge of wider institutional, and audience contexts to tackle the question set. Institutional questions, which dealt with, a comparison of successful American institutions versus less commercially successful home grown UK industries often worked well, for example, Bullet Boy and This is England.

The best answers showed awareness of the ways in which institutions use technological convergence in order to meet the demands of their audiences and to make profit, widen audience demographics, target different markets, or simply cater for audience needs. Candidates could illustrate the issues that emerge with technological convergence for major and independent institutions, for example, piracy and the music industry or how the magazine industry in order to slowdown dwindling magazine sales, has developed more interactive web resources. More able candidates were able to illustrate such points with detailed reference to case study material.

Those candidates who could use their case studies and really focus on the question rather than simply regurgitating the whole case study wrote some interesting and well-founded answers. Overall the best candidates related closely to the focus of the question, evaluating how important technological convergence is.

There was a frustrating lack of awareness of audience targeting and candidates need to be more aware of the way in which target markets determine decisions in production, distribution and exhibition/exchange for all media products – there are obvious points to be made about the way in which new media and converged media contribute to all of these phases for products aimed at specific tech-savvy audiences; equally arguments could be built around the ways in which products aimed at different audiences might not be dependent upon technological trends, but more traditional production practices. Very few candidates took the latter line and this led to some naive and superficial responses in which technological convergence was credited as very important in cases where its role was clearly limited – for example, in the success of low budget films, such as This Is England.

There was some evidence that some candidates were not appropriately prepared for question two and this was evidenced by the historical biographies offered of the media institution (eg Pinewood Studios) studied or of a particular media producer or director (Shane Meadows, This is England), on occasion, candidates simply re-wrote a history of the institution they studied