National 5

Media

Exam

• One and a half hours• Answer every question!• Total of 50 marks• Questions range from 2 to 10 marks

Catfish – Key Aspects

Categories:• Genre (documentary; thriller, horror,

romance•Purpose (entertainment; profit;

inform/warn)•Tone

Catfish – Key Aspects

Narrative:• Structures – Todorovian; Hero’s Journey

•Codes – Action codes; Enigma codes, Referential codes•Conventions – genre markers for Thriller,

Horror, Romance

Catfish – Key Aspects

Audience:• Target Audience (characteristics; needs /

expectations)•Mode of Address•Preferred Reading•Differential Readings

Exam questions

Two types of question:

• Describe ...

And

• Explain ...

Describe ...• One mark for relevant point• More marks for development of point, including examples

from filme.g.• One documentary technique used in Catfish is handheld

camera. (Point – 1 mark)• We see this in the opening sequence in the medium shot

of Nev complaining about the progress of the documentary – the camera is shaky, and the framing is not always accurate. (Evidence – 1 mark)

• It is effective because it allows the audience to see events as they unfold, creating a sense of realism, and it instantly establishes that “Catfish” is a reflexive documentary (Development – 1 mark)

Explain ...• Cause and effect or relationships between key aspects • One mark for relevant point (perhaps identifying the features to be

explained), further marks for development of point, including examplese.g.– The Todorovian narrative structure appeals to a mainstream audience.

(identifying point – 1 mark)– It does this for several reasons. Firstly, it is a familiar structure from

mainstream feature films, so audiences feel comfortable with it as they know what to expect. (development – 1 mark)

– In the case of “Catfish”, it helps a more mainstream audience appreciate the film, as the narrative is easier for them to follow, and by the end of it they have discovered answers to the major enigmas about Angela and the story has reached a satisfying conclusion. (development with example – 1 mark)

– By using this structure, the filmmakers were able to broaden the audience for the film beyond the narrow arthouse audience it might otherwise have had, and therefore ultimately to make more profit. (further development of relationship between narrative and audience – 1 mark)

Preferred Reading

• The meaning the filmmakers want the audience to take from the film:– Nev is an ordinary person– He becomes heroic as he goes on a quest to find

the truth about Angela– Angela is an extraordinary, complex but

sympathetic character

Preferred Reading - How is it created?

At the start of the film Nev is shown as an ordinary man through a medium shot which chows him eating, dressed casually in a T-shirt, and talking to the cameraman. This creates the preferred reading because he is relaxed enough to argue with the cameraman, and the fact that he is eating suggests that he is going about his everyday business – the cameraman just happens to be filming him. This is confirmed by the loose handheld camerawork which shows the scene was not staged or set up in any way.

Nev is shown as heroic later in the film. For instance in the car journey to Angela’s house we see Nev clipping on a hidden microphone so he can record his visit to Angela. This makes him seem heroic because, like a character in a thriller, he is putting his life at risk in order to discover the truth. He is also shown as heroic in the scene where he investigates the barn that belongs to ‘Megan’. The camera shows a dark deserted road in the middle of the night. This reminds us of a scene from a horror film so when Nev gets out and approaches the barn, it creates the preferred reading that he is like the hero of a horror film, overcoming his fears in order to find the truth.