Media Studies MS4 - AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

Hi everyone! My first time using this but I'm really stuck! Anyone doing media studies WJEC for A level? MS4?

Do you know how to answer the different audience questions -
The ones I know how to answer are how texts target the audience. Could anyone clarify what I need to include for:
1) how your three texts position the audience * this one I'm the most stuck on
2) how the audience responds to your chosen texts

Also, anyone have any revision techniques for this media? I'm so confused on how to! Thank you! I really need your help! 😂

Hello! I'm doing WJEC A Level Media Studies this year as well so hopefully I can help you a bit.

1) How texts position the audience is pretty much the same as how texts target the audience. Thing language, mode of address, microelements etc. and all should be well. Do your texts position the audience to take a certain viewpoint? For example, does a nature magazine position the audience to feel sorry for the endangered animals - if so, how does it do it? You might want to include encoding/decoding theory, preferred/negotiated/oppositional reading, uses and gratifications, that sort of thing.

2) How the audience responds is about how media texts are polysemic (can be interpreted in different ways) and DON'T just follow the hypodermic syring model anymore. Audiences are now individual people so everyone responds differently! Why might some people take a preferred reading and others take an oppositional reading?

My revision techniques so far have included watching/reading texts over and over again (the examiners LOVE details about specific texts), making mind maps of how to answer certain questions seeing as the same ones come up again and again every year, looking at past papers to notice any patterns in questions, and going over all the different theories so I don't forget any in the exam!

Really hope that helps. Good luck!

Aww thank you so much for replying I didn't think anyone was going to! That was helpful thanks. Just to clarify as I get really confused with positioning of the text .. Would you say like.. For example, a close up shot is used to position the audience to feel..? Or to think..? Would you go through your media language then?

Also, you know representation, do you have to prepare for all the people, places, issues, ethnicity and age? I've only prepared for people and key representations as that is what mainly comes up!

Yeah that's exactly what it means! A low angle shot is used to position the audience in a state of vulnerability etc.

I've just done people this year because Section A is ALWAYS two of genre, narrative and representation, so even if you don't like the representation question you always have one other option!

Thank you so much!

Ah yeah, you see my teacher told us not to do any narrative so I can only do genre or representation! But hopefully.. If it comes up it will be people.. 🙏

Have you practised any distribution questions? I feel like that's the one I will try and avoid!

I'm not doing narrative either seeing as it's covered by genre. No, hopefully we'll get two audience questions like last year!

What are your industries?

I'm honestly avoiding all audience questions for as long as possible, but for revision techniques I'm mostly just writing a lot of practice essays. I also put together a list of things that come up in the exam so I have notes on everything I could possibly need to know.

My industries are TV, Film and Compuer Games. You? Oh cool yeah I am doing lots of essay plans! Have you prepared many for the industry questions on distribution and production values?

I'm doing the same! I've attempted essays on both for computer games, I'm just waiting for my teacher to mark them. They were definitely tricky, especially distribution as it's hard to not drift into marketing sometimes.

Oh what computer games are u doing? Do u know what to include in distribution? Or what that question is actually asking? Teacher only gave us a couple of sides of info :/

But for section be how likely is it that and appeal sort of question will come up as that's what I'm focusing magazines on. I know it's risky but they just don't work for much else!

I'm also hoping representation comes up in section A!

I'm actually studying five games, because my teacher admitted about a month ago that he chose really bad games and so I studied a couple of extras so I can just choose the most suitable three on the day.
I'm doing Grand Theft Auto V, Angry Birds: Star Wars, Minecraft, Final Fantasy XIII, and Beyond: Two Souls. What about you?

For a "key features in distribution" question, the mark scheme very vaguely says "financial/industry/placement, marketing/internet" as a reply. I mostly wrote about which platforms it was released on, and any unusual features about the marketing (for instance, B:TS was premiered at a film festival, so I said it's marketing allowed it to be distributed to a film audience).

Honestly, my teachers have not been amazing this year. One of them is just entirely ineffective (he's the head of sixth form, so doesn't really ever have time to properly plan lessons), and the other is completely new to media studies so admitted he's just guessing mostly. So I learnt most of what I needed to know for Section B by myself, using mark schemes as a sort of specification.

Hi guys I'm sitting this exam too and I'm doing Film, TV and Magazines but I have a question

I know section can be two of the following
representation
genre
Narrative

But for section be how likely is it that and appeal sort of question will come up as that's what I'm focusing magazines on. I know it's risky but they just don't work for much else!

I'm also hoping representation comes up in section A!

Oh okay cool! I'm doing GTA V, FIFA 14 and Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics!Yeah I looked up the mark schemes too! But do you know what that actually means?? Like does distribution mean how the media text is 'distributed' to audience or how they get it?

See for representation are you learning ethnicity, age etc? I am only learning people and one of my films doesn't have any ethnic minorities (Sherlock Holmes movie) .. Because I'm only doing film for A as it's most suited for all of them questions!

What texts is everybody doing I'm doing

Film:
Skyfall
Les Mis
submarine

TV:
strictly come dancing
Question Time
Broadchurch

Magazine:
Heat
men's Health
Radio Times

My dream questions would be representation(TV) marketing (film) and appeal (magazine)

I think it means where the media text is seen, so what countries it's released in and how widely this is done and which audience may be aware of it's existence, if that makes sense?

For representation we mostly learnt about gender and age, because for both TV and Film they fit the best (We're doing Strictly Come Dancing, Game of Thrones, and The Returned for TV, and Gravity, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and Guardians of the Galaxy for Film). We also did a small amount on ethnicity for film, because both GotG and TGBH have fictional ethnicities written into them, so it's possible to discuss how the films treat each fictional ethnicity.

I know some people in my class who are doing a similar tactic as you (focusing one text on section A), but I knew most of the texts very well before we started studying them, so I thought I may as well try to study all texts for all sections. Genre questions fit my TV texts quite well, and narrative fits my game and film texts, so I thought I'd keep my options quite wide.