----****************************Example of Grade A Critical Research answers

Example A

1. With detailed reference to your research findings, analyse and discuss the relationship between children and television.

[45 marks]

I set myself the task to find out whether children of the age 7 - 8 understood the difference between reality and fiction in television programmes. I Initially, I thought my findings would be clear cut, that they could easily distinguish this, however this was not so.

David Tripp and Bob Hodge define the in 'Children and Television' define the term terms 'modality'. If a programme has 'weak modality' it is seen be far from reality, however if it is seen to have 'strong modality'; it is a 'window of the world' which means it is very close to reality. I will use these concepts in the analysis of my own findings.

Within the interview I conducted, the topic of cartoons was discussed. Initially, I thought that because of the animated form of cartoons the children would easily distinguish that they were fictional. Below shows the discussion on cartoons from my interview. I must note G/A refers to Girl A and girl B/B refers to boy B and so forth allowing the children to be anonomous.

Me: Do you like cartoonsG/A: Yeah, but when they do cartoons they can' t make it look like its really happeningB/A: like on Eastenders you can have real fires and they look real but on cartoons you can't they look like cartoons.

Here, the children understood that due to unrealistic events th way events were presented in an animated form, that cartoons had 'weak modality' and were therefore fictional.

This is reflected when G/C states; 'They jump of a cliff and go (impression of falling) but are fine. That doesn't happen in real life.' Hope Kelly (1981) which is taken from www.aber.ac.uk/media/Docuemnts/short/realrev.html states there children apply the criterion of impossibility and possibility, in order to understand whether something could happen in real life. So is G/C does just this, by applying the concept of plaus impossibility to cartoons, therefore is sure cartoons are fictional.

In conclusion, the children in my sample could clearly distinguish between the fiction of cartoons.

When discussing the news broadcasts a programme based on real life events, one children in my sample stated; 'When I watch the news I get upset, we it has really upsetting, horrible things …. I don't like thinking what is really happening, so watch cartoons, they aren't real so don't upset me'.

Here the child understands the news depeicts real life events this and makes a clear comparison of the reality of the news with the fiction of the cartoons. The news is seen to have 'strong modality' and to be like a 'window of the world'. The child also refers to the fear of real events, this is expressed by the organisation childrennow (www.childrennow.org/television/talk-news.htm) who stat; children of 5 10 offer practical advice to parents on looking after their children. Childrennow states' 'children of 5 - 10 know the difference between fantasy and reality, but lack the perspective. Instead of worrying about monsters under the bed, they tend to worry about the real dangers like kidnapping'. This is reflected when G/D states; 'The what were their names Holly and …. Jessica, that's not far from here that could have happened to

us'. This child is applying the criterion of plausibility and possibility, which means she is understands the case of Holly and Jessica to be real life, because it could actually happen to her.

Although, Morrison et al (1981) found within his study that the concepts of plaus a study found on the site www.aber.ac.uk/media/docuemtns/short/realrev/html, found in his study the concepts of plausibility is not developed until the age of 11 or 12.

In conclusion the children in my sample could clearly distinguish that the news was based on reality. However, an improvement to my study could have been to ask whether the children knew the difference between news was scripted, thus gaining an understanding of whether the children had developed 'media' appreciation' (David Buckingham).

The children in my sample could easily distinguish between the reality of the news broadcast and the fiction of the cartoons, however, I wanted to find out whether they knew the difference between reality and fiction in fictional programmes, but that depict real life issues and situations.

David Buckingham; Moving Images: Understanding children's emotional responses to television, Manchester University Press (1996), states 'viewers may attribute different degrees of plausibility to a text they know to be fictional. They recognise what is shown did not actually happen, but they do appreciate that something like it might have done'. This is exactly what I found within my sample when G/A states when referring to the social drama 'Casualty', states 'Its quite real, all those accidents and everything.' The use of the girl using the phrase 'quite real' could mean one of two things. One, that she believes Casualty to be real life, or two, that is realistic, possibly due to the realistic affect of the injuries.

David Buckingham found in 'Moving Images' found the same thing in his study. He states a child stated Casualty was 'real', but he argues this should not be seen to be a 'window of the world' but instead just 'realist', a well constructed and accurate immitation of the real'.

When discussing Eastenders the subject of whether the characters were actors or not arised in my interview; Me: In Eastenders are they real people?G/A: No they act.C/B: Yeah they are actors.

Through this discussion, I can conclude that some of the children in my sample understood that Eastenders had actors, so was not rea a reality based programme.

Although not all of the children in my sample understood that Eastenders was fictional. For example, B/A states when referring to cartoons states; 'Yeah, its better than seeing it happen in real life, like that fire in Eastenders when Tom rescued that baby'. This boy understand that Eastenders to be a 'window of the world' because refers to Eastenders as being 'real life', implying it is reality based. In reflection I should have asked him to develop this answer so I could clearly understood understand that he perceives Eastenders to be a programme real life programme.

All in all, I am unable to draw a concrete conclusion on children's perceptions of reality and fiction, due to having conducted such a small scale study. It would therefore be unrepresentative to make generalisations about all 7 - 8 year olds, as I had a sample of white middle class children, of which all children in society are not.

However, I can loosely conclude in relation to my study that 7 - 8 year olds can clearly distinguish between the fiction of cartoons and the reality of the news. Although, when the

reality and fiction boundaries are blurred, for example within Eastenders and Casualty, which are fictional programmes based on reality issues, it is harder to distinguish reality and fiction. It is important not to make generalisations about all 7 - 8 year olds, as each child has different interactions with the real world and television, so will have different perceptions of reality and fiction on television. (1,180 words)

ASSESSMENT

A really good range of appropriate material referred to, interweaving personal primary research with secondary reading. Good understanding shown and a real sense of investigation.

QUESTION 2 - 43/45 Grade A

Example B

With detailed reference to your research findings, analyse and discuss the relationship between women and film.

[45 marks]

My research topic is how women are treated in the film industry, with specific reference to the director Kathryn Bigelow. I started off by looking at how women in general are treated.

Jim Hillier (The New Hollywood) says that overall Hollywoods equal opportunities are not good and for women, the 1970's and 1908's were significant, with changes in numbers and status in the film industry. Still for very few make it top the top and women are aware of this. I agree that the equal opportunities are not very good as women never seem to get a chance. Hillier then goes on to say that in the 90's there was no change with attitudes towards gender, "You don't call a man, a man director".

Alison Butler (Womens Cinema) says that in 1999 only 4% of the top 100 Hollywood films were directed by a woman. This book was useful for facts such as these. Alison then says that women directors carry extra responsibility than just their own work. If a women succeeds with film, it opens the door a little further for everyone else. I think that this I a really good statement and I to believe that if women are determined to make it they are going to have to stick together.

I emailed Jane Cussons (Chief executive of Women in Film and Television) and she told me that women are only perceived as making chick flick films. The only place you are likely to see a women in a film set it the area of hair and make up; It’s a mans world, film directing. These male executives would just like to see fantasy images of their younger selves.

Looking on the internet I found many different opinions. Laura Hodes from the Yale Daily News says that theres a problem with women not being taken seriously. I totally agree. Can women only really be successful if they make male women bashing films or domestic heart warming films?

There are still problems today about women in the film industry and only a few make it. Kathryn Bigelow who directed 'Blue Steel', 'Point Break', 'Strange Days' and 'The Weight of Water' to name a few is the most successful out of a number of women who crossed from the

counter cinema to Hollywood in the 1908's. Although Kathryn is still criticised for making it because of her marriage with director James Cameron. This really does make me angry just because he was a star before she was.

Jim Hillier (The New Hollywood) says that Bigelow is characterised as being masculine, proving that women can do action. It is hard for her though because women are not normally considered for a job if its 'too macho, too big budget and has too much action'.

Yvonne Takser (Working Girls) says that Bigelow currently occupies a position of a woman not only directing action but the kind of sophisticated generic hybrids that regularly accrue status for male directors. I agree and I'm glad that Kathryn although may dislike her title as being 'masculine' never lets us down.

As I looked at more opinions from the internet I found that www.cinema.com says that Hollywood is mans world and that females should stay away and Charlie Brown a film critic says that Kathryn 'can milk the action out of any genre'.

'Sight and Sound' say all good things about director Kathryn Bigelow. They say that Bigelow has larger than life emotions which are edged with violence She has a gift for translating these emotions into imagery, but they did say that more critic are saying that Bigelow is directing like a man than a woman. I think this is an u unfair comment, I don't see why a women can't direct something with action, why should women only be seen as directing romances when there are plenty of male directors who have directed romantic comedies in the past.

San www.sandiegostateini.com gave me information saying that 9 out of every 10 films released in 2001 were directed by a man. Although this information is not that valid as it is an unofficial site.

Darren Walters from www.bbc.co.uk said that latest figures show that women are still struggling to break through into directing in significant numbers.

The results from my questionnaire just supported the views from Alison Butler and Yvonne Tasker. Only Not one person who completed one of my questionnaires could name me three female directors and only two women could name me films that had been directed by a woman. 90% had heard of or seen Bigelow's films but didn't realise that they were directed by a woman. I think they just presumed they were directed by man because of the content.

Other people such as a man I spoke to on a chat forum (www.film-mkaers.com/chat) had heard of Kathryn Bigelow and it was interesting to get some views from America. He said that Kathryn is a uniquely talented film-maker to who 'is tapping into something primal and strong'. Although this information might not be that valid as I could have been talking to anyone.

I think that from watching some of Kathryns films I can give my own opinions on her work. I believe that it maybe a shock to some people just because Kathryn is doing something different. I hope that her work such as 'Strange Days' encourages other female directors to try and break the barrier. There are some scenes in her films that are bloody, macho and that have a lot of action, but I believe that any woman if given half the chance would jump at the chance of doing this. Kathryn is only labelled as being 'masculine' because shes the only female director out there directing action.

www.kathrynbigelow.com agrees with me by saying that Hollywood is an exclusive boys club, and but anything men can do Bigelow can do better, louder and bloodier.

Michael P Perry held an interview with Kathryn to get her views on the topic (www.techmit.edu). He asked the question do about How tough is it being a female director? Kathryn said 'If theres

specific resistance to women making movies then I choose to ignore it for two reasons. I can't change my gender and I refuse to stop making movies. Its irrelevant who or what made a movie, whats important is how people respond to it'.

Overall, I feel that it is obvious that women make great films, but what is less clear is how many more films they have to make before their stories are dismissed as irrelevant, their talent as narrow and their audience as non-existent.

I feel that I got a lot of interesting information about how women in general are treated in the film industry and specifically how Kathryn Bigelow is treated and is viewed upon. If I had more time on my project I would have liked to see if I could have contacted Kathryn Bigelow personally to get some really valid information.(1,163 words)ASSESSMENT

Evaluative and reflective, makes good use of a range of sources and attempts to cross-reference them well.

QUESTION 2 - 44/45 GRADE A