Textual Analysis
Article
Canis Canem
The exam for the AQA GCE Media Studies is divided into two parts Section A and Section B.
Section A requires you to respond to an unseen media text. This might be in the form of moving image, print, a website or a sound recording. You will be able to study the text for about 15 minutes — a moving image text will be played three times in that period — making appropriate notes and then you will need to answer four questions relating to each of the four key concepts. You should take a further hour to do this before moving on to section B of the paper.
Doing well in section A requires some forethought and planning. The following guidance is designed to help you find a positive means of approaching the part of the exam.
The reason that section A has been divided into four questions is to provide you with a framework with which to organise your response. It should provide a more meaningful opportunity than a traditional essay based response for you to demonstrate what you know and understand about the key concepts that are said to underpin a study of the media. By splitting up your response into four ‘discreet’ sections it should encourage you to give equal weighting to each of the concepts. A traditional essay response puts the onus on you to decide what to focus on.
The problem the format of the paper may create for you is deciding precisely what goes where. You will probably realise by now that media analysis does not always readily fall into sections, discreet or otherwise. There are bound to be overlaps, for example between audience and institution. Examiners realise that this is likely to be the case and will be looking to reward the points you make even if occasionally you stray into an inappropriate box. The important issue is to make sure you get the major points you make into the right section. So when for example you are writing about the way in which narrative is used in the text that is most likely to belong in the section on Media Language.
The trick to doing well in section A is to avoid the temptation simply to write about the things that interest you. Providing a reasonably balanced response to the four questions will inevitably gain you better marks than focusing on just one section to the exclusion of the other three. If you don't believe it — do the maths.
So what goes where? Well most of it is logical:
- Media Language is about the construction of texts: genre, narrative and image analysis are going to be central.
- Audience is about the consumption of media texts: who consumes them, what they make of them, what they do with them.
- Institution is a section where the major focus is about the context in which the text was produced and the factors that may have influenced that process.
- Representation at a simple level looks at what the text tells us and its attitude to the people, ideas and issues that it is presenting to us. At a more sophisticated level this section is an opportunity to explore the ideology and values that are implicit in the text.
Don't worry too much about timings at this stage. Watch the extract three times, just the same as in the exam itself, with a gap of three minutes or so between each viewing. As you watch it each time, make a list of points that you would want to make in an exam. You can either write everything that comes to mind down on one sheet of paper or try to sort it under each of the four headings given above as you go. If you go for the first option you will have to sort it when you have written down all your ideas.
Now you have a choice. You can either use the prompts below to help you get started with your analysis. Alternatively have a go yourself and then check your version against these prompts.
Some prompts to get you to think about the breakdown of analysis of Bully into appropriate sections.
Media Language
Consider the use of narrative in the trailer. You should think about:
- the characters introduced
- sources of conflict
- enigmas that are set up to be resolved by playing the game.
Think about how the trailer has been put together. Consider the style of the sequence, especially such factors as the impact of the mise-en-scène and the editing.
At least two different genre conventions are at play in the sequence:
- The trailer. Video games use similar conventions for their trailers to those established for films released in the cinema and to some extent programmes shown on television. How far does the Bully trailer do that? How much is it similar to trailers for other video games? How far is it different?
- The genre of the video game. What qualities of a video game are made apparent in the trailer? Try making a list of those features that clearly identify this as a video game rather than, say, a music video. What similarities are clear in its relationship to other video games you may know? Can you discern any differences?
Audience
The context in which people are likely to access and consume this text is important. List some of the possible contexts for this. For each one identify how it might influence a reading of the text.
What do you think is the target audience for the sequence? Remember that playing video games is not the sole prerogative of the under 20s.
What impact do you think the trailer will have on the audience? Will it shock them, delight them, intrigue them or bore them? Give reasons for your views.
As an audience, how do you think we are being encouraged to relate to the characters introduced to us in the trailer? Will everyone react in the same way do you think? How are we hooked by the narrative?
Institutions
You might find it useful to consider the section on institutions and audience alongside each other as they are quite closely interconnected. Do make sure though that you can unscramble your ideas and place them under the appropriate heading.
Under this heading you might like to consider that are the intentions of the sender of this message and what functions does the sequence serve. Explore for example the nature of promotion materials and how they are placed so that people will access them. Where would you expect to find this extract? Why has it been placed there? For what purpose? Is this context appropriate for the function it serves?
You may wish to consider the way in which web based technologies are now central to the promotion and marketing of products like Bully.
What sort of certification do you think the game is likely to have, bearing in mind that video games carry similar classifications to films? What sort of age group do you think it is appropriate for yourself?
Do you think there are any issues about the content or title of the game that might raise questions about its suitability for young audiences?
Representation
A good starting place might be the titles Bully and Canis Canem Edit. Why do you think the game has two titles? What is implied by each of the titles? Consider how the following are represented in the trailer:
- School life
- Gender
- Bullying
How are the characters in the trailer used to represent each of these aspects of the sequence?
Video games are obviously constructed through graphics. People talk, however, about how ‘realistic’ they are. What issues of realism are raised by your viewing of the sequence? Do you think this game is ‘realistic’?
