Close viewing or listening of visual/oral texts (internal)
Internal 3 credits Close viewing Film techniques Sound Evidence AnalysisAS 91107, 3 credits. Analyse aspects of visual and/or oral texts through close viewing and/or listening, using the ORIGINAL text — the standard names three specific categories to interpret: ideas, language features, and other techniques/structures. A short extract examined in real depth, the opposite of a whole-film essay.
1 Reading the notation
Three named categories to interpret — ideas, language features, and structure — and the original text, not a transcript.📖 Terms the schedule grades you on
5 terms- Analyse (Achieved)
- Developed interpretations covering ideas, language features, AND other techniques/structures.
- Convincingly (Merit)
- How significant aspects WORK TOGETHER to create meaning.
- Perceptively (Excellence)
- Insightful and/or original understanding.
- The text (note 6)
- Must be used in its ORIGINAL FORM — not a transcript or script alone.
- Text types (note 5)
- Film/TV/music video, drama, multi-media, graphic novel, radio, oratory, song performance, documentary/interview.
2 Visual technique, named precisely
Shot, angle, movement, light, colour — precision is what earns credit.| Technique | A precise description | The kind of effect to explain |
|---|---|---|
| Low angle | Camera below eye level, looking up | Power, dominance, threat |
| Close-up | Face fills the frame | Forced intimacy; nowhere to look away |
| Handheld | Unstable, reactive framing | Immediacy, unease, documentary feel |
| Low-key lighting | High contrast, deep shadow | Concealment, moral ambiguity |
Name the technique with its proper term, then say what KIND of effect. "Creates tension" is where analysis stops short.
3 Sound and the oral text
Diegetic vs non-diegetic, and the most underused device: silence.| Technique | A precise description | The kind of effect to explain |
|---|---|---|
| Cut to silence | Sound removed at a beat | Impact; the viewer supplies the reaction |
| Non-diegetic score | Music the characters cannot hear | Directs the audience over the characters' heads |
4 From naming techniques to showing them work together
The four-step method, and the Merit-level move of combination. ✕Listing techniques without the fourth step
NAME → DESCRIBE → EXPLAIN the effect, then stopping, produces a technically accurate but incomplete answer. The fourth step — LINK it to the idea or purpose — is what turns naming into analysis, and it is the step dropped most often.Practice
Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.
Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.
Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.
Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.