Section A Overview

The explanation of Section A of the exam from OCR is as follows:

Candidates answer two compulsory questions.

The first requires them to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio.

The second asks them to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical concept.

Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio.

The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two specific production practices.

The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and planning
• Post-production
• Using conventions from real media texts

Question 1(b) requires candidates to select one production and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.

The list of concepts to which questions will relate is as follows:

• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media language

Media language refers to the ways in which media producers make meaning in ways that are specific to the medium in which they are working and how audiences come to be literate in ‘reading’ such meaning within the medium.

For example, the ‘language of film’ would include all elements of use of the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene.

Examples of Past Questions

How Media Demonises Teenagers

'Hoodies, louts, scum': how media demonises teenagers

The portrayal of teenage boys as "yobs" in the media has made the boys wary of other teenagers, according to new research.

Figures show more than half of the stories about teenage boys in national and regional newspapers in the past year (4,374 out of 8,629) were about crime. The word most commonly used to describe them was "yobs" (591 times), followed by "thugs" (254 times), "sick" (119 times) and "feral" (96 times).

Other terms often used included "hoodie", "louts", "heartless", "evil" "frightening", "scum", "monsters", "inhuman" and "threatening".

The research – commissioned by Women in Journalism – showed the best chance a teenager had of receiving sympathetic coverage was if they died.

"We found some news coverage where teen boys were described in glowing terms – 'model student', 'angel', 'altar boy' or 'every mother's perfect son'," the research concluded, "but sadly these were reserved for teenage boys who met a violent and untimely death."

At the same time a survey of nearly 1,000 teenage boys found 85 per cent believed newspapers portray them in a bad light.

They felt reality TV – with shows like The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent – portrayed them in a better light – with fewer than 20 per cent believing they were being portrayed negatively.

As a result of the negative press, 80 per cent felt adults were more wary of them now than they had been a year ago. However, the most striking finding, according to the research, was that many were now more wary of boys of their own age. "It seems the endless diet of media reports about 'yobs' and 'feral' youths is making them fearful of other teens," it said. "Nearly a third said they are 'always' or 'often' wary of teenage boys they don't know.

"The most popular reason for their wariness, cited by 51 per cent was 'media stories about teen boys' compared with 40 per cent who said their wariness was based on their own or friends' bad experiences of other teens."

Nearly three-quarters said they had changed their behaviour as a result of this wariness. The most common change, cited by 45.7 per cent, was boys avoiding places where teenagers hung around. Others included dressing differently (14.2 per cent), and changing who they were seen with (11.9 per cent). "For much of the press, there is no such thing as a good news story about teenagers," it added.

"Stories about sport and entertainment, which might have balanced other negative coverage, also took a critical line. Only 16 per cent of stories about teens and entertainment were positive: only 24 per cent about teens and sport were positive."

The research found that – for all the coverage of teenage issues – the boys' voices themselves were rarely heard in newspapers. Fewer than one in 10 articles about young people actually quoted young people or included their perspectives in the debate.

Fiona Bawden, the WiJ committee member who presented the research at the British Library, said: "When a photo of a group of perfectly ordinary lads standing around wearing hooded tops has become visual shorthand for urban menace, or even the breakdown of society, it's clear teenage boys have a serious image problem.

"The teen boys' 'brand' has become toxic. Media coverage of boys is unrelentingly negative, focusing almost entirely on them as victims or perpetrators of crime – and our research shows that the media is helping make teenage boys fearful of each other."

The research, Hoodies or Altar Boys? what is media stereotyping doing to our British boys? was carried out for WiJ by the research company, Echo.

London 2012 - Heather Small 'Proud'

Dick Hebdige "Hiding In The Light"

I have previously introduced you to Dick Hebdige. We talked about his 1979 book titled 'Subculture - the Meaning of Style' and I gave you the quotation below as one you should learn:

"Members of a subculture often subject their membership through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, which includes fashions, music and mannerisms" - Hebdige (1979)

Hebdige also wrote a book called 'Hiding in the Light' which was published in 1988. It is here that he discussed the concept of youth being represented as either a threat or a non-threat.

The first chapter of this book opens as below:

Hebdige's hypothesis here is that society in general (through the media) are only concerned in representing youth when there is something negative to say. He discusses the birth of the concept of the 'teenager' and goes on to assess the effect of consumerism and the move from a one-dimensional representation of youth, to a two-dimensional representation of "youth as trouble, youth as fun". He writes that teenagers are seen as either "troublesome youth" or "fun-loving youth."

Hebdige sees 'youth as trouble' as being a political representation whereas 'youth as fun is commercially driven.

So, when you look at representations of British Youth Culture in the past can you see evidence to support Hebdige's thoughts? You can read 'Hiding in the Light' in full by CLICKING HERE.

Thinking of contemporary media, that is to say the media from 2010 onwards, is there evidence to support Hebdige's assertion that British Youth are portrayed as either:

What Are Moral Panics? Hayley Burns

1. "The media, wittingly or unwittingly, reproduce the definitions of the powerful." [Eldridge 1997: 65]
2. The mass media appeals to the public at large, especially people who are part of the politics - they're in position of power, which enables them to tempt society into believing what they want them to believe. 
3. Stanley Cohen founded the term 'moral panics' in his work Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972). Cohen states defines moral panic as 'a condition, episode, person or group of persons (who) become defined as a threat to societal values and interests'. He continues to describe how the mass media stylises these episodes, and amplifies the facts, resulting into a national issue, when the situation could have been sustained on a local level. 
4. Throughout each era, Cohen noticed that groups of youth culture were associated with 'violence', which provoked reaction and emotion from the public. The Mods and Rockers were portrayed as threat to law, taking 'control' over the 'culture'. This refers to the media manipulating the event and calling for a punishment to be set to victimise the offenders. In alternative terms, society cannot accept responsibility for its own failures and so they seek to find someone who can be accused. 
5. The amplification that takes place through the media's work acts to appeal to the public so that they approve of the ready-made opinions by bishops, politicians and editors (also known as the moral barricade).
6. Cohen's criticism on the conflict of the Mods and Rockers in Clacton on Easter Sunday, 1964, was the exaggeration of the subject and manipulation of the facts. Phrases, such as orgy, riot, siege and screaming mob, were interpreted into the text, which resulted in the event being perceived as a much more violent affair than the facts support. 
7. Cohen's control culture failed to deal with the issue presented to the public, which is why the topic of youth culture carries on to reappear at various points in our society. 

Past Exam Questions

Here is a collection of past questions from the Collective Identity section of the exam paper.

Hopefully, by looking at these you will be reassured that the exam does not hold any great terrors for you.

A good piece of advice to try to make the question more accessible is to replace the term 'group of people' with 'British Youth'.

For example:

Analyse the ways in which at least one group of people is mediated'

becomes

Analyse the ways in which British Youth are mediated.

Mods vs Rockers in the 1960s : Creation of a Moral Panic

Read through and watch the text(s) below and then answer the question that follows in bold print at the end of the post...

One weekend in 1964 residents and holiday-makers in the seaside towns of Brighton, Bournemouth and Margate, were rocked by a sudden influx of young, cool gangs. They were Mods and Rockers, and the culture clash that occurred that weekend, described in the articles below in The Daily Sketch, Daily Mirror and others, has become iconic in the history of youth culture.

Mods and Rockers were easily identifiable by their distinctive clothing styles: the Mods wore Fred Perry and Ben Sherman designer suits, covered by a Parka jacket; while the Rockers wore leather biker jackets and jeans. Mods also rode European scooters like Lambrettas and Vespas and listened to a mix of Motown, ska and bands such as The Who.

The Rockers favoured motorbikes and listened to American rock and roll such as Eddie Cochrane and Elvis. Although the movements were short-lived, violent clashes between the two gangs were seized on by the media and used by moralists to exemplify the outrageous liberties enjoyed by Britain’s youths.

The seafront vandalism and violence described in the newspaper article was later made into the 1979 film Quadrophenia.

The video below shows how the media in the 1960s reported the clashes between mods and rockers and considers whether or not the media coverage exaggerated the scale of events leading to a 'moral panic' in relation to the behaviour of these youth subcultures.

 This is evidence of historical creation of collective identity for British youth cultures.

In what ways do the media texts referenced above create a representation of young people as being a danger to society?

The media in the papers portray the youth as a danger or threat to the society through the use of language and images. 

Referring back to the first headline, 'Beach crowds take cover from battling Mods and Rockers', the use of language is strong in emitting a threatening aura to the rest of the locals. The fact that the crowds are to take cover from the teenagers gives a sense of danger as if the people were put in danger and seek protection. This lead to locals become much more aware of the youth and take safety precautions as if they too were taking cover from them. 

Additionally, the description of the riot as battling between the two subcultures creates an image of a battlefield amongst the members. This, in result, forms an image of both groups being dangerous and reckless. 

This idea is further supported by wildest ones yet, which could be portraying these teenagers as reckless with their actions or out of control, as if they were wild beasts on the loose. 

The strong description on the event of the two subcultures continues as we read on. The article makes a reference to a film in its time, that focuses on the Rockers concept, titled The Wild One. At the same time, they made a play on words by beginning the article 'The Wild Ones...', creating relations with the true Rockers to the portrayal of the characters in the film. The mentions of weapons, such as knives, and injuries that took place at Margate portrays a negative image of both subcultures as they're constantly being related to violence. With the associations to violence helped form the readers bad first impressions on these groups of youths, as they're continuously reminded of the dangers they committed. The figures stating the amount of teenagers being suppressed by the police also gave a brief idea of the population of these subcultures, and how there were possibilities of having one in your neighbourhood. This made locals much more aware of the teenagers on streets.

However, there are some suspicions raised on negativeness being portrayed, such as Margate's heroine, Mrs. Ellen Green. According to the papers, this 50 year old buffet cleaner was able to shoo off 200 teenagers with a mop. The fact that they were frightened by the old lady with a useless item for her defence managed to create some sort of impact on the youth shows that the assumptions of the threats they were emitting were actually false, as the fact that they were scared by the use of the mop doesn't create a very dangerous image of the Mods and Rockers at all. 

Do these articles support or challenge the way in which the collective identity of young people was constructed in contemporary newspaper reports? 

I think that the articles challenge the portrayal of the subcultures in the contemporary newspaper reports. I believe that a lot of the information written by the national newspaper companies was false because they approached the event in a negative way, such as the use of language that emphasised the behaviour of the Mods and Rockers, when in reality they were driven by curiosity and excitement of gathering together in their teams to enjoy the music and the clothes. This formed negative impressions on the collective identity of those groups of young British people. 

The benefits of carrying out an interview (Freddie Freeman) who was involved in the event gave a completely alternative perspective. Where the papers amplified the occurrence of threats and violence to the establishment, and the locals, in truth, a few pebbles were thrown here and there, and the odd few punches exchanged between the subcultures. In all honesty, most of the atmosphere, that might have been mistaken by the elderly for a battle, was the high spirits and the rush of adrenaline when being gathered in groups of similar people at the seaside. 

Although both sources gave contrasting perspectives of the same situation, I think it is difficult to determine the reliability of the two as the perspectives were mainly given from either the Mods or the elderly. These generations both differ heavily from each other, where the behaviour of the elderly's young years were completely changed by the National Service, but the freedom for the post-war generation had introduced to Britain the title teenager with contrasting morals. 

Deviance Amplification is a process commonly carried out by the mass media, where the seriousness of deviant behaviour is emphasised. The purpose is to form a greater awareness and interest in deviance which results in more deviance being uncovered, creating the impression that the initial amplification was actually a true representation.

Deviant defines behaviour that is outside of what is socially acceptable. This sort of behaviour was, in some cases, present at the South of England, and the press exaggerated this deviant behaviour. However, because of the press, at the next gathering, the police had gotten involved in the situation, causing people coming in to witness the situation. This resulted in even greater numbers of police, and because of their population, they were able to arrest more of the Mods and Rockers, which results in more reports of more arrests, inviting more people, requiring more police to come in, until the process begins spiralling. This creates impressions of young people being rebellious, and because of this, more young people begin to want to rebel and associate themselves to the Mods or Rockers like reported in the press. In the end, it is the media that causes the event to turn chaotic. 

What is 'Collective Identity'?

Mod Sub-culture

What is a Mod? 

Mods were one of the first generations to be unaffected by war and the control of National Services in 1960s. A mod would usually be a young person in smart stylish suits and motor scooters (Vespa or Lambretta) with a liking for American soul music. These ways, the 'modernists' lived up to become a sub-culture.

What is the historical context of the Mod? 

Dring 1960, Mods had remained undiscovered by the media, however they eventually emerged as a massive army, which they were transformed by wealth and education.

Wages improved after the war, and working-class families didn't need their children's financial support anymore. However, the youth became financially independent and suddenly had cash nowhere to spend.

The Education Act of 1944 improved the quality of schooling, and offered employment opportunities for youth of any status. These movements spawned a new generation of artists, designers and musicians, which helped them develop their own personal style.

Influenced by wealth and education, the Mode craze exploded across the streets of London. This was first discovered by the rise of retailers selling Mod clothing.

By this time, a new door was opening to the Mods. This male-dominated subculture shunned the minority of women. Although they remained a minority throughout the cult, they were often referred to by the males as 'birds'.

However, the Mods were soon disapproved by the Rockers. This subculture was a youth of motorcycles occupied by figures dressed in leather from head to toe, studs and hair grease. The Rockers were the enemies of the Mods. Originally stemmed from Rock and Roll, Rockers were dirty and uneducated (greatly contrasting the sophisticated Mods).

They soon properly faced each other and broke into a riot during Great Britain's Easter Bank Holiday on the seaside of Margate. Seventy were arrested, who stated that they ended up this way because of boredom. Amongst the thousands that attended, seventy seems like a small figure. However, if anyone was unaware of the Mods before, there were no chances of escaping their presence now.

In 1965, the working class rebels who helped to create the original craze disapproved of their identifications and started to loose their interest. Wealthy pop aristocrats opened up their own clubs to feed off the popularity of the style. This pushed the original Mods to the side, who were left with their jobs. Furthermore, they were growing older, starting families and careers and establishing homes for themselves. The Mods were gradually shadowed by the hippies and the steadily-growing drug culture of the late sixties.

What are the ''fashions, mannerisms and music'' that ''signal... membership'' of this youth sub-culture?

In 1958, a small group of tailor's sons in East London developed a smooth and sophisticated style, combining Italian and French looks of the period. The suits were Italian, narrow lapels impeccably tailored for them. These were often worn with pointed-collar shirts. The shoes were hand-made winkle-pickers. The hair was styled short and neat, going along with the sophistication theme. This was heavily influenced by the lead of French film stars at the time. One old recipe includes sugar and water than took time to make. They sustained their 'cool' image by taking advantage of the Italian motor scooter transportation, as these were interestingly shaped and less oily than motor bikes, therefore damaging very little of their suits.

King's Road supported boutiques appealing to teenage girls and young women. Hemlines moved gradually up the leg, becoming miniskirts that famed London. Flat shoes were in vogue along with trousers and shirt or sweaters that resembled the girl's boyfriend. Mod females wore little makeup, limited to ordinary eye shadow and false eyelashes. This contrasted the males who payed much more attention to the eye shadow, eye pencil, lipstick and rouge.

Hairstyles were also influenced along the changes in clothing. They became geometric to compliment the clean lines of Mod's clothing designed by a famous fashion designer Mary Quant. Hair salons for men also began appealing, wanting to eradicate the use of sugar and water.

Soon, Ready, Steady, Go! began airing on TV in 1963 (a British rock/pop music programme that aired every Friday evening). This opened up the latest styles, music and dance moves to the Mods. Clubs were still increasing in popularity, lead by La Discotheque (the first venue to play records rather than have live bands). This went on to Mods leading active social lives, attending clubs two to three nights per week on average. One Mod described his week as: “Monday was Totten- ham Royal, Tuesday the Lyceum, Wednesday the Scene or maybe stay in and wash your hair, Thursday Tottenham Royal again, then Friday night was Ready, Steady, Go! It got difficult to get in on that, so me and a friend used to get hold of an empty film can apiece and ride up and down the lift in the studios until it was time to go in, then we would just join the crowd. Then after, you’d go on to the Scene later. Saturday and Sunday was either a party or the Tottenham Royal, then the next week, you’d start again.”

To keep up with this mannerism, most Mods employed the help of amphetamines (these were legal at the time and were referred to as purple hearts or purpose, French Blues or black bombers). This method was sometimes the only way to make it through the week.

In general, Mods were of working class, shop hands or office boys. This obsessive satisfaction was somewhat a way to escape the monotony and low status they had to tolerate in their workplace. This was the only way to achieve the material success promised by a wealthy and consumer society. Because they did not suffer the impact of war, they were unaware of the guilt and anxiety over their extravagance.

There were three general breakdowns of the subculture; the Mainstream Mods, the Scooter Boys and the Hard Mods.

Mainstream Mods

This sub-group was the most effective on styles, but generally dressed in Italian silk suits with narrow lapels. Colours were often grey, black or brown, but sometimes red or green occurred. Drainpipe trousers were cut above the ankle to display Italian tasseled loafers for basket-weave casuals (usually with pointed toes). Ties were always thin and black, worn around the button-down shirt-dressed necks. Turtlenecks was another trend in wool or cashmere, as were crew-neck and V-neck sweaters and polo knit shirts buttoned to the throat. Horizontal stripes designed the fabrics along with razor-short hair and a black bowler to top it all off. Dark glasses were also sported to remain within the 'cool' image.

Scooter Boys

Scooter boys dressed more casually, such as anoraks and Army parkas for warmth. The shrink-to-fit Levis were common amongst the Mods, usually in black. Like the Mainstream Mods, Scooter Boys also wore sweaters of wool or cashmere fabric, but instead paired these with plaid or checked trousers. Additionally, they customised their scooters, adding mirrors, head-lights and fog lamps around the handlebars.

Hard Mods

Skinheads originated from this sub-group. They were aggressive working class males who dressed themselves in jeans and work boots (often supplied by Doc Martins that were and are still currently producing work boots of exceptional strength and fit).

Rockers' identity symbol

Mods' identity symbol