2016 AQA Brief

1. GCSEMEDIA
Science Fiction: Guidance Notes

2. General Points
• The exam will be 1hour and 30 minutes long
• The exam will be held on Tuesday, 24 May
• Each question is worth 15 marks and you should spend approximately 20
minutes on each question.
• You should bring design equipment such as drawing and colouring pencils, a
ruler and an eraser in order to answer question 4.
NOTE: These notes are not designed to be comprehensive; they are merely designed to start you
off and provoke some ideas, There is no guarantee that these questions will be asked.

3. TheScenario
The scenario you are provided with gives you a situation that requires your
expertise. In reality, it is a reminder that you are expected to respond to the
questions in role; in other words, you are the young person contributing ideas to
the launch of this sci-fi film and should write your answers in an appropriate style.
You should treat the competition as though it is real and as though you really,
really want to win it!

4. Possible Question 1 - Knowledge and Understanding
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
For your knowledge and understanding question you will need to remember to use case studies to support your response.
“The genre has been successful for so many years. It’s no surprise, is it? The
possibilities of the genre are virtually limitless.”
You may well be asked something like ‘Why is Sci-Fi always so popular at different times and among different audiences?’
You might want to consider:
Reflection theory - how sci-fi changes themes to match context
Audience theory - how these films appeal in a number of ways (uses and gratifications) to a number of audiences (demographics, psychographics, age, gender, genre fans,
aficionados...)
Universally applicable themes/ representations/ ideologies of sci fi used by major studios to deliberately target huge audiences
Different subgenres for different audiences
Franchising, transmedia, synergy - all methods of expanding audiences and deepening and extending their commitment to the narrative

5. Possible Question 2 - Pitching your Idea
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
For your pitch you will need to remember to remain in role, using persuasive and exciting language. You need to show the
examiner that YOUR sci-fi film is the BEST THING EVER!
Go through the brief for ‘clues.’ Make sure your pitch matches what they ask for, but also look for places where Reel Film
perhaps haven’t thought things through properly. (E.g., they say they want creative ideas but their three ideas are extremely
generic. So you either have to forget being creative or point out that the ideas offered might be too conventional in their
current form. Which is best? A* students very often point out problems with the info in the pitch or suggest different
approaches.)
They have specified that they want a focus on ‘believable’ characters, a ‘strong narrative’ (note; narrative is NOT just the
plot! Enigma, conflict, archetypical characters, three-part structures all relevant...) and ‘inventive settings and locations.’ So
base your pitch around these things (while adding anything else you think is important.)
Finally, be aware that they have specified ‘a family audience.’ That means you need to EXPLICITLY put things in your film
to appeal to adults, teens and younger children of both genders...

6. Possible Question 3 - Creative Question: MARKETING MATERIALS
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
“As well as your pitch, it’s important that you provide
suggestions for how to market the film.’
There is a focus on marketing in the pitch, and they can ask you to create any one
of several different types of marketing material.
Storyboard for trailer
Poster
DVD cover
Website
Whatever you are making, remember that you are trying to
appeal to several different audiences at once. Male, female,
adult, teen and child. You need to put things or features in
which will attract as many of these people as possible. You also
need to imitate the media language of that particular form. This
is what you are being assessed on.

7. Possible Question 3 - Creative Question: STORYBOARD
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
The storyboard has been the most popular choice for this question in years past. You will be supplied with a 10 frame
storyboard sheet to produce your design.
YOU MUST FINISH ALL TEN FRAMES. Consider it a test of basic organisational competence. So plan something you
can replicate in 20 mins. The four weeks they give you is to get this ready.
It should be in colour. A black-and-white storyboard means a black-and-white film. A storyboard coloured with highlighters
and normal pens paints a clear picture of a lazy or disorganised student. Consider a basic colour scheme (3 colours)
which will appeal to your audience.
Tech info - sound, camera angle and movement - is vital.
Don’t repeat any frames. If shot one is a spaceship flying across the universe, we don’t need another frame later which is
basically the same thing.
Title of film, studio logo, date of release, names of actors, tagline, voiceover... include ALL the things which are commonly
found in trailers.

8. Possible Question 3 - Creative Question: WEBSITE
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
“...we will definitely need a strong online presence.’
It seems likely that they might ask you to design a website.
You will be supplied with an A3 sheet of paper or a storyboard to produce your design. It would be a good idea to draw your webpage leaving room to write
annotations around the perimeter of your design. These would explain the decisions that you have made to the examiner.
Consider how you might include conventional elements such as the title, colour, font, images, videos to link in with the overall aesthetic appeal to the
target audience of families. Look for examples of great web design.
You must observe the conventions of a webpage - consider how your reader will navigate the page with hyperlinks and where these hyperlinks should be placed.
How should your content be arranged on the website? Research existing sites for ideas and good practice.
Consider the advantages of the webpage format - interactive elements like moving image footage, animations, sound, music, links to other sites - and how these
could be used to attract your target audience. You should also explain how these techniques could be used to present information effectively
Link to social networking sites - how could these be used? You might also consider how to use forums or microsites (blogs) to develop relationship between the text
and audience (think about Benedict Anderson’s imagined communities.) Perhaps get your audience to sign up to your site so you have their data which you can use
to target audiences more effectively (Or sell, if you’re evil.)
Don’t forget the synergy. What other sites could you link to? What sites do your target audiences use? Could you perhaps highlight some of your marketing tie-ins?

9. Possible Question 4 - Justify your Ideas
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
“Explain how you will market your film in order to reach your target audience.” (Or
similar)
Traditional media- magazines, newspapers, radio, traditional TV channels, posters, cinema.
May appeal to older audiences.
Expensive
Very good for targeting already-defined audiences
Have actual examples- ‘Total Film’ or ‘Sight and Sound’ are film magazines, for example. Much more impressive if you
can actually identify specific films or magazines you wish to use as part of your marketing.
Limited, one-way flow of media. Passive experience. THings like posters are only used to hit very localised, immediate
audiences (ie at the time and in the place where the film is actually showing.) So those would come at the END of the
campaign.

10. Possible Question 4 - Justify your Ideas
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
“Explain how you will market your film in order to reach your target audience.” (Or
similar)
New Media - digital forms. Web, social media, mobile media, digital TV channels (eg Netflix)
Appeal to younger audiences
Cheap,flexible forms
Allows for connections between web, forums, social media; multi-platform approach
Web 2.0 - Two-way flow of media -audience can engage (eg add photos to instagram,join in on forums.)
ALlows for multiple forms - video, text, animation etc.Can be much more immersive
Vital that there is coherence across all forms; old and new media must be part of the same campaign,have the same
taglines, aesthetic etc.

11. Possible Question 4 - Justify your Ideas
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
“Explain why your film will appeal to your audience.”
Key word - audience. If nothing else, show that you know how to write intelligently about audiences. Who are they
(demographics and psychographics), how do we attract them (marketing), how do we entertain them (Uses and
gratifications), how do we know we have succeeded (audience research, box office.)
But link to other key concepts also. Media language and representations obviously play a part in attracting audiences, and
attracting audiences is what institutions exist to do. So, ensure that you are always discussing one of these concepts.
Media terminology in every sentence. No waffly introductions or conclusions.
Reference to case studies always helps.