AS textual analysis feedback

Focus on specific camera shots and camera angles

e.g. Frodo is shot from a point of view of the ghost and from a high angle. When Frodo looks up at the ghost the point of view is from a low angle. This is a classic cinematic trick showing vulnerability and power relationships. It is also used in Terminator 2 when Sarah Connor sees the Schwarzenegger for the first time since the first film when he was chasing her. She is crawling along the ground trying to escape as Schwarzenegger looms over her.

Go from the specific to the general . Make your point using textual evidence and explain fully.

Ian made a good point about the ring whispering to Frodo ‘quietly and seductively’ as if they have a secret between them. ‘Giving the ring a voice in some way personifies it making it a bit like it has a living consciousness.’ Very perceptive using skills of textual analysis used in GCSE English when you also interrogated a text.

The skill in textual analysis is making perceptive points and the linking them with textual evidence whether a film , television or print text. In the exam you could be given any media text to de-construct so expect the unexpected. You need to develop a confident, fluent style of writing.

The most successful responses are those that show effective note taking. You view the extract four times so you can organise your response into a series of points. Make notes using what the exam board call a toolkit for analysis concentrating on different aspects such as lighting, genre, narrative, sound, mise-en-scene, camera angles and shots and special effects. Also discuss representation and audience as they are key concepts in media studies.
Focus on specific points and write as much as you can in time allowed.