June 2016 Exam Paper Analysis

Possible Case Study: Youngers

Youngers (2013-2014)
Two main characters: Yemi and Jay

• Yemi is a smart, capable 16 year old boy who wants to get out of his neighbourhood and become something more; do more with his life. 
• Jay is a stereotypical teenager who wants to become the next big thing in music- rap music. 

First Episode:

We see the two boys go off to collect their GCSE results; Yemi is hoping for good grades so he can get into Chairwood College and study music production (despite his parents wanting him to be a lawyer or doctor) where as Jay is not really that bothered by them.

When they collect their results, Yemi receives all A grades where as Jay fails nearly all his exams. Jay acts as though he is not annoyed but it is clear that he did not expect to do so badly.

It is clear that the boys are polar opposites but they both share a love of music and so enter a local music talent competition to see whether they have what it takes. 

Jay (left) and Yemi (right)

Episode 2:

Yemi and Jay go to perform at MicStar- call themselves Youngers 

Yemi is excited to see Davina perform who also attends Chairwood college

At MicStar, Youngers smash their performance but it is hijacked when Jodie’s brother attacks Jay on stage.

Episode 3: 

Davina records a track with Yemi and Jay- they post it online

After Jay’s phone got taken by Jodie during the fight at Boxes, she sends a topless picture of him around to all of her friends 

When Jay gets his phone back he realises what Jodie has done

Episode 4:

Jay starts work as a plumber with his dad 

Jay and Yemi go to a house party

Yemi gets asked by the Avengers crew to come into the studio to listen and record. They record their song 'Enigma' 

Jay shows 'Enigma' to a former singer who says she will pass it onto her brother who is a manager but instead she leaks the song and changes Davina's name.

Yemi and Davina are annoyed but Jay does not apologise.

Episode 5:

After 'Enigma' gets leaked, instead of apologising, Jay decides the best thing to do is to film Youngers' first music video for their song 'A to B'.

Jay wants to do a classic hood video but Yemi is not on board. Davina changes the music video idea a bit and helps Jay out but things don't go as planned.

Yemi struggles with a classical music project but he soon figures it out and remixes the Swan Lake theme with grime beats.

When Jay is out filming he gets jumped and runs away with the camera. 

Jay goes round to Yemi's house and apologise for losing 'enigma'. They finally record an appropriate music video for their song and it goes really well. 

Episode 6:

The Youngers make there first CD and attempt to sell them on the streets- it doesn't go very well

Ash gets Youngers a slot on a local radio station (Maximus Radio) to help promote 

Ash is struggling for money and has some of his items seized until he can pay up. In order to get the money he goes to work for an old friend (seems shady)

At the interview, Maximus tries to stitch them up but Jay recovers it, their track A to B gets played and Maximus likes it- he says he 'sees a big future for the Youngers"

Ash does one more job for his former mate but after a near run in with the police and shout out by the Youngers he decides not to go through with it. 

Jay walks Davina home and they kiss despite Jay knowing how Yemi feels about Davina.

Episode 7: 

Possible Case Study: London Town

London Town- 2016
Plot: In '70s London, a 14 year-old boy is introduced to the Clash by his estranged mother. It changes his life forever.


Characters:

Shay (15)- wants to go to London and see his mum, talks about his broken home, he steps up to the plate when his dad gets injured, he is very mature for his age, he dyes his hair to fit in with the 'punk rock' image, 
Vivian (15/16)- firstly appears as a punk girl after taking Shay to see The Clash in concert and dressing in typical punk attire, but we find out that she actually comes from a posh, rich family and her father works for the Government under Thatcher, she is seen as a hypocrite 
Dad- works at a classical piano shop, gets injured whilst moving a piano and is hospitalised for most of the movie 
Shareeyn (Mum)- doesn't have any responsibilities, cares more about being Shay's friend rather than his mother, wants to pursue a music career
Joe Strummer- lead singer of The Clash, becomes friends with Shay after a taxi ride and after they are arrested and placed in jail together.

Issues Addressed:
Immigration- There are lots of references, both dialogue and music, relating to immigration and The National Front is featured ranting about not getting jobs
Music- features The Clash and other punk bands, Shay meets a girl that introduces him to The Clash and invites him to a concert, the lead singer of The Clash gets arrested and ends up in jail with Shay for 'disturbing the peace'
Youth- Punks and Skinheads, set in the 1970s in Britain 
There are a series of altercations between the police, the skinheads and the punks- Shay gets punched in the face by a policeman 
Society- covers a lot of societal issues in the 1970s (The Clash's music, immigration, policies, rich/poor divide, broken/separated families)

Narrative Essay Plan

Introduction:
As part of our AS Media project we created a 3 minute film opening about a group of childhood friends who are starting high school whilst trying to stay connected through the club they have together.
There are four main characters, each with different personalities, who have been friends since they were children. They started a club when they were younger as a place they could all go when they had family or personal problems; in this club they would play old school board games and just get away from it all.

Para 1:
We wanted to ensure that our narrative was interesting for our viewers and so we used Levi Strauss' theory of binary opposites to help structure our narrative.
The binary opposites we used:
Children / Teenagers
Indoors / Outdoors
Conflicting personalities within the group
Our group / other teenagers at school
Boys / Girls
Binary opposites were extremely important as we were able to show conflicting elements in our narrative and create some excitement through conflicts such as Boys vs. Girls and our group vs. other teenagers.

Para 2:
As well as Strauss' theory we needed to decide on the arc of the plot so we looked to Todorov's theory of equilibrium. We wanted to keep our plot interesting so that our viewers would not get bored. In order to do that we would have to come up with our normal equilibrium before deciding on the disruption.
We decided that our film would begin with scenes of happiness between our four friends: everything is good as they start high school and they still go to the club together. The disruption would come predominantly from their new school as some of the group become popular and the group falls apart. As two of the friends became more popular, the group begins to split up and forget about the rest of the group and their club. High school would present challenges for all members of the group which becomes clear as the narrative develops. But soon enough they realise that the only friends they need are each other and they break the typical stereotypes they are pigeonholed into. Following this, the equilibrium is restored and the narrative is returned to its original equilibrium.
This is how we used Todorov's theory to influence the narrative of our film opening.

Para 3:
The final elements we needed to consider when developing our film opening's narrative were the enigma codes, what we wanted to keep from the audience and what we wanted to slowly reveal throughout the narrative.
Within the film opening itself we hint at one key enigma code: will they stay friends?
This enigma code was to be prominent throughout our film and hinted at towards the end of the film opening. We hinted at this by saying at the end of the film opening "We never expected things to change…" This was an important code to get across to the audience as it would be key in keeping the audience interested in our film because they would want to know what happened to our friend group.

Most Influential Teenagers

According to Vogue the top ten most influential teenagers in the world are:

1. Kylie Jenner, 19 (USA)
2. Malala Yousafzai, 19 (Pakistan, Lives in the UK)
3. Barbie Ferreira, 19 (USA)
4. Chloe Grace Moretz, 19 (USA)
5. Camila Cabello, 19 (USA)
6. Simone Biles, 19 (USA)
7. Maisie Williams, 19 (UK)
8. George Matus, 19 (USA) 
9. Katie Ledecky, 19 (USA) 
10. Luka Sabbat, 18 (USA)

My list of inspirational British teenagers:

1. Laura Trott- Olympic Cyclist 
2. Andy Murray- Tennis (was 25 in 2013)
3. Emma Watson- Actress and Activist (was 25 last year)
4. Maisie Williams- has spoken about feminism and the refugee crisis
5. Louisa Johnson- won XFactor, is a good role model to young girls
6. Little Mix- young girls look up to them 
7. Tom Holland- new Spider-man
8. Sophie Turner- actress in Game of Thrones
9. Daisy Ridley- played a strong heroine character in Star Wars
10. Thomas Brodie-Sangster- actor in Game of Thrones and Love Actually 

In Real Life notes

Characters:
Tobin (20)- Video Games Addiction
Thomas (14)- Cyber Bullying
Tom (15)- Online Love
Paige (15)- Phone Addiction
YouTubers- New Celebs
Ben/Ryan (15)- Porn Addiction

Issues Addressed:
- Privacy
- Sharing information
- Consumer/Capitalism
- Not going outside
- Pretend Self Image/Friends
- Bullying
- Addiction
- What is technology replacing?
- Looking up?
- Creativity (e.g. football game, app design)

Representations for Collective Identity essay:
- Nerds
- Demonisation of Youth
- Vulnerable Teens
- Screen Obsession
- The Future
- Empowered Voice
- Normal/Ordinary (Majority of Teens)
- Historical sub-cultures

Pros and Cons of the Internet

Pros	Cons
Socialising	Cyberbullying and Trolls
Audience comments	Keyboard Warriors
Information/knowledge	Don't know the source of all information
Down time/relaxation and entertainment	Porn addiction
Shopping	Look up- become obsessed with screens
Social contacts/travel	Hackers
Organisation and events	Online gambling
Charities- no make up selfies ALS ice bucket challenge	Sugar daddy- grooming
Crowdfunding	Body image- control women, make up tutorials
	Increase in stereotypes- Kardashians