ncea film essay level 2

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How To Analyse NCEA Film in 6 Steps

Written by studytimenz

You’re gonna be asked to analyse The Truman Show at least once in your NCEA career if you’re taking English or Media Studies. If not, it’ll be the creepiest cinematic work in NZ history, Heavenly Creatures. 

From the minds that brought you How to Analyse NCEA Poetry in 6 Steps, StudyTime is happy to present the eagerly-anticipated sequel. This time, on a medium people actually like (film)!

Films can be kind of weird. It can be difficult trying to extract deep philosophical musings from  I am Legend  – but it’s possible. You’ve just got to trust in the power of a well-supported yarn, know your techniques, and realise that there’s no wrong answers in English.

There’s no wrong way to watch a film – as long as you back it up. So, with these six steps from people who have also sat in class watching  Schindler’s List  many times, you’ll be on your way to Excellence. 

1. What to talk about

You’ll notice that the name of the film essay paper is ‘Analyse Visual Text’ – that’s because when we write about films, we’re writing about it in pretty much the same way we would write about books. Films are a part of literature too, and so our essay is on how a creator uses language and techniques to express ideas.

So, what do you actually put in your essay as evidence? The answer:  specified aspects of visual or oral text.  That doesn’t help, so here’s a list:

• Purposes  (what the director is trying to achieve through something in the film).
• Audiences  (who the director wants to be able to  get  something from the film).
• Ideas  (themes, motifs, symbols, etc.)
• Characters  (and what ideas they represent).
• Setting  (everything about context, the location, time, characters, era)
• “Language features” for film  (cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, design, sound, acting, dialogue, etc.)
• Structure  (narrative sequence (AKA storyline structure), beginnings, endings, flashbacks, etc).

The use of some of these things should help the director to get some kind of idea or purpose across. When you read an essay question, you should be asking yourself:  how and why does one of these aspects give me an answer?

2. Language Features 

Yeah, camera angles are technically a language feature. We don’t get it either. Directors spend a whole lot of money and a whole lot of time to perfectly shoot, reshoot, and edit the scene you’re watching in class –  and everything they did is for a purpose. 

Sometimes, we watch films and something really stands out. A certain shot makes you feel something unexpected, or a character says something quite deep and profound, which hits home. Often, it just feels like a part of the film, until you realise how clever and deliberate it was. Either way, it’s a part of the craft of filmmaking, and you should be writing about it.

Here’s a couple of the main ones explained:

Cinematography 

includes things like camera angles, zooms, colour, and a whole lot more. The more films you watch with this in mind, the more you’ll see differences in directing styles. Wes Anderson uses a pastel colour palette, which gives the Grand Budapest Hotel a real 1900s luxury vibe. Quentin Tarantino, on the other hand, uses a whole lot of red, and so his movies  feel  violent. Cinematography is pretty much everything the camera does. 

Sometimes, cinematography works more with the subconscious than the conscious. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the camera is doing that’s so important, but if it wasn’t there, it’d be a completely different scene. For example, horror movies often use shaky cameras or quick cuts, and that actually gives us adrenaline. If shaky-camera was used in a rom com, however, it would just make it more difficult to enjoy Ryan Gosling.

Mis-en-Scene

is pretty much everything in a shot. It’s a fancy French name for how and why everything is the way it is and visible to the audience – does the vase in  American Beauty  give audiences the forced impression of homeliness? (Who knows, but write about it.)

is a huge one, and includes ambience (footsteps in a big empty space is a favourite for creepy scenes, as is phones ringing in a boring and stressful office environment the character doesn’t want to be a part of), sound effects, and music (horror movies without music are about 82% less scary).

3. Use Secondary Sources

There’s no way that you’re going to catch every single language feature or film technique watching a film by yourself. Some are so abstract that they’re near impossible – the director’s put it in as a little artistic flourish, knowing full well that they’re going to be missed by the viewing population.  To check this theory out, there’s some really cool videos on cinematography on YouTube, and even some on specific films, like  Blade Runner 2049 .

So, step 3 is to  just Google your film, and find as many articles, reviews, and videos as possible. You’ll be surprised what NCEA gold you can find.

4. The Director-Audience Relationship

As we mentioned earlier, nothing is accidental in film. Someone actually went out and bought that specific vase you’re barely looking at in the scene. 

The most important relationship in the film is the one between the director and us, and everything the director does eventually goes back to the effect it has on the audience. 

When you’re writing your essay, make sure you’re not talking about the film in isolation.

Instead of discussing how the high angle as the Dementor grabs Harry Potter was used to put Harry in a less powerful position, discuss how this was a deliberate choice to create the feeling of the audience looking down on Harry – this is a tool for creating a sense of empathy for our protagonist and viewing him as a vulnerable hero.

And, again, when you’re talking about the director’s purpose (the A in TEXAS) – there’s no wrong answer. 

5. Insight, Interpretation, Appreciation

To really make sure you’re getting Es in visual text, you’re going to have to be showing these three things – especially for Level 3. Weaving these in is a sure-fire way of making your marker happy, and isn’t that what we all want in the end?

Insight refers to looking into the film,  rather than just viewing it at face value. Instead of talking about what the film is about, talk about what it’s  about  (deeper meaning, not plot). Talk about language features and film techniques, talk about purpose, talk about characters as representing us.

Interpretation  pretty much means what it says on the Google Dictionary. You need to have an analysis of the text, and that  means having an idea of what it means to you.  You can literally extract any lesson or moral from the text, and bring it back to society or the human condition (see below) every single time.

Appreciation means respecting the director’s work and craft of the film . This doesn’t mean ending the essay with “10/10 would recommend”, but by emphasising that the techniques the director is using  does  have an effect on the audience and is contributing to a film that makes us feel things or see the world differently. 

6. The Big Three

You think you were going to get through an English article without talking about society? This is English.The Big Three are the three things you want to be bringing your essay back to to get those E8s:  Society:  make links with real world issues and the way our society works (or doesn’t), and the similarities/differences between the society in the text and ours.

The human condition:  this is the abstract name for the experience of being human, or the things that are inherent in humanity: emotions, experiences, vices – we are, after all, only human.

Text in general:  literature is a powerful tool to write about. How does the way this text is constructed compare to others? Is this protagonist a hero or an anti-hero, and why does this make the text important?

So there you have it – you just got a crash course in movies for NCEA. With these six steps, you’ll be well on your way to smashing out the best visual text essay you’ve ever written. Now go and watch  Schindler’s List  again.

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NCEA Level 2 English Annotated Exemplars

2 March 2022

6 minutes to read

• 01. Where do you locate annotated exemplars?
• 02. Why bother with using annotated exemplars for your revision?
• 03. Let’s look at a Merit example from 2019
• 04. Let’s unpack the question:
• 05. A close reading of the film Ladybird, directed by Greta Gerwig.
• 06. An excellence annotated exemplar from 2020
• 07. Digging a little deeper: Close reading of Regeneration
• 08. Needing more help? Try Superprof!

Chances are in your second year of NCEA you will be relatively familiar with the NZQA website, but if not rest assured it will be quite the go-to for your studying and revising resources. You will get to look at and begin to unpack many resources that include a range of helpful tips and tricks to guide you along your NCEA Level 2 English journey. This includes achievement standards, where you can check what exactly is required for each mark. The achievement standards list achieved, merit and excellence categories and what to do on how best to reach them. Most importantly there are exemplars that are ready to utilized on the NZQA website. These are so helpful as they are basically a photocopy of achieved, merit and excellence student essays, that are ready to be unpacked and studied. Not only do these provide a good barometer for what will earn you each mark, but they also can help you study if your written text or visual text is the medium being discussed. You can use them to guide your study and also learn from the structure that the exemplars demonstrate.

For starters are you wanting to have a complete overview of NCEA Level 2 English? Then check this blog out here.  Perhaps you are needing some more confidence and skill in attacking your essay questions ? Maybe you just want to zero in on those tricky internals to work out what you will be doing for the year. And finally are you curious as to how English will help your future career, then check this blog out.

Where do you locate annotated exemplars?

Jump onto your nearest computer and log on to NZQA.govt.nz and click under subjects and simply select ‘English’. Jump onto the drop-down menu and you will see listed, reports, achievement standards and of course annotated exemplars. Here is a sample of the dropdown here:

Why bother with using annotated exemplars for your revision?

Have you ever found yourself at a complete roadblock or halt in your studying journey? You’ve gone through the notes from during the course year, made notes but still need more clarity on how to actually structure your writing. Perhaps you are aiming high for that excellence and wish to know what would be required in order to be endorsed with that mark? Well, annotated exemplars are great because not only can you look at the structure of a Merit or Excellence essay, but you can also come to know the deeper higher valued insights and conclusions that students can draw. They are also handy because they show how with effective planning you can succeed and get results. Basically, treat these as a blueprint to springboard into your own ideas and insights. They are there to be inspiring and educational. It might even be more significant if you have actually studied that particular written or visual text. On top of this, there is also sometimes notes at the bottom from the examiner which makes it very effective in gauging how that particular student did and how on-point their essay was. So not only do you get to see what an achieved, merit and excellence essay look like, you also can get valuable insight from the marker as to what worked, what didn’t work and where there was perhaps room for improvement.

Let’s look at a Merit example from 2019

  For starters, let's note that all-important essay question:

“Analyse how language features showed the positive and/or negative qualities of one or more relationships.”

Let’s unpack the question:

This essay question appears to have two components. First, you want to know what language features are (dialogue, one shot, two shots etc) and second you will need to address how they showcase both negative and positive traits of relationships. Should we dive in?

A close reading of the film Ladybird, directed by Greta Gerwig.

In this exemplar the student addresses the fact that the main relationship in the film between the mother and daughter is love and hate and therefore very complicated. The language features utilised are dialogue, one shot and two shots. These language features help to craft this love and hate relationship, where the audience is exposed to both the positive and negative qualities of the relationship. The film does a good job of showing the negative side of the relationship between the mother and daughter at the start. In a scene where Ladybird and her mother are clothes shopping, Ladybird asks “Do you even like me” to which the reply is “yes I do love you”. This dialogue however shows the disconnect that Ladybird feels towards her mother and she feels quite unworthy. In action, it causes the audience to feel for Ladybird as she is quite misguided and unhappy in her relationship. Although the two are tied together and spend a lot of time together they still have a lot of disagreements.

Later on, in the movie, Gerwig begins to leave clues of Marion the mother’s love for Ladybird. We soon are exposed to a more positive side of their relationship.  This is shown through the language feature of the One shot, where Marion is shown fixing up Ladybirds dress and putting a lot of care and time into the process. This action is shown through the one-shot. This shot choice really addresses that Marion will literally do anything for her daughter and this shows a sharp contrast to earlier in the film. In a scene later on, when Ladybird is crying, Marion ends up comforting her and we see them go on an open home montage, solidifying their strong bond. This is illustrated through many close-ups that show both women with big smiles on their faces.

An excellence annotated exemplar from 2020

This particular exemplar goes in-depth about the novel Regeneration which was written by Pat Barker. What question did the student pick to write about?

“Analyze how ideas were presented to be thought-provoking and relevant? Ideas may refer to character, theme or setting.”

In order to answer this question, there are two parts. The examiner is wanting to know what particular ideas were both thought-provoking and relevant. Maybe brainstorm two separate columns on a mind map with these two headings and provide useful quotes to quickly note down. You can do this if you studied Regeneration and follow along with it, but also you could equally write your own mock exam as a study tool and use your own written text. Remember since this exemplar is an excellence, the student has successfully managed to explain and not just describe, formulating a higher form of argument.   Let’s get to the close reading now.

Digging a little deeper: Close reading of Regeneration

One of the ideas used is language features throughout Regeneration. These help to serve the meaning of the book and help steer the author into addressing the story's main themes. Some important examples of language features in the 2020 exemplar are first-person narrative, direct speech and allusions.  The book itself helps to illustrate the harsh realities for physicians in World War 1. They did this by literally showing and explaining the destruction through the eyes of the physicians in the first person. This is best addressed in the character of Dr Rivers, a psychiatrist who ends up changing his view on his occupation. The reader is always exposed to his thoughts as he tends to the shell shocked victims. This appears to be thought-provoking as his ideas surrounding war begin to shift and take a new shape. He wants to tend to and fix the soldier's injuries but also does not want them to be ready to go back into the line of fire for more wartime expeditions. This is thought-provoking because it puts his morals at odds with his profession, and he must choose what will win out. Will his duty triumph over his care for seeing these soldiers live, and live long?

Needing more help? Try Superprof!

Are you wanting some more hands-on approach to writing the best essay you can write? Maybe you're feeling stuck with how your progress is going in class? Or perhaps even you just think you are needing some more guidance with those menacing exams at the end of the year? In any case, have a log on to Superprof, which is an online tutoring website that specializes in helping to get you to the next level of your NCEA Level 2 journey. The first lesson is free so there is really a strong incentive to get involved and have a look to see if tutoring is right for you. There are hundreds of tutors, each there for you to help with providing extra resources, insights into exam writing, practical tips and just simply some extra support for when you’re feeling swamped from all the things you need to do. Log on to Superprof today and start learning how to absolutely nail those NCEA Level 2 exams and internals!

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Standard 91099

Search standards & assessment, analyse specified aspect(s) of studied visual or oral text(s), supported by evidence.

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AS 91107 Annotated exemplars

Analyse aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) through close viewing and/or listening, supported by evidence (2.10), download all exemplars.

This annotated exemplar is intended for teacher use only. Annotated exemplars are extracts of student evidence, with commentary, that explain key parts of a standard. These help teachers make assessment judgements at the grade boundaries.

Download all exemplars and commentary [PDF, 249 KB]

TKI English assessment resources (external link)

Low Excellence

For Excellence, the student needs to analyse aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) perceptively, through close viewing and/or listening, supported by evidence.

This involves demonstrating insightful and/or original understanding of significant aspects of texts.

This student has perceptively analysed significant aspects of The Dark Knight through the techniques of camera work, pace, dialogue and symbolism. This is done by demonstrating insightful understanding of how camera work develops the audience’s understanding of the Joker and Batman (1), and how the editing of the pace of the film combines with the use of silence to present the Joker as a predator (2).  

Perceptive understanding is shown through the analysis of how the actions and dialogue of one brave man contrast with the self-preservation of the group, and how this foreshadows later actions in the film (3). Insightful understanding is shown in the analysis of the symbolism of weaponry, where the characters are compared to terrorists and modern governments in their continual fight for society’s good (4).

For a more secure Excellence, the student could further develop the analysis of the idea that Batman is feared by Gotham’s criminal society, and that although Rachel is a strong character she still trembles in the presence of the Joker (1) .

For Merit, the student needs to analyse aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) convincingly, through close viewing and/or listening, supported by evidence.

This involves demonstrating understanding of how significant aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) work together to create meaning.

This student has analysed how the use of dialogue works together with character actions in The Dark Knight to help the audience understand both the Joker’s intentions (1) and the ideas behind Harvey Dent’s demise into criminality (2).

There is a convincing understanding of how sound and camera work together to create a sense of action and tension (4). The meaning and effect of the symbolic use of lighting (3) is interpreted.

To reach Excellence, the student could:

• develop further insights into the use of prior knowledge (e.g. ‘The Joker is aware...’) as a control mechanism (1)
• further develop how ‘the sinking feeling’ links to the use of silence, Batman and the audience (4)
• provide further insight into how lighting combines with another aspect to create meaning and effects (3).

This student has convincingly analysed how the aspects of character actions and dialogue in The Dark Knight work together to create meaning, analyzing how these aspects work together to show the Joker’s ruthless nature and disregard for human life (4).

The student has just sufficiently analysed how the close-up on the mask symbolises the Joker’s personality, and has connected this understanding to ideas of hidden identity in modern day terrorists (1). The student has interpreted the meaning and effect of lighting and theme (2) (3).

For a more secure Merit, the student could demonstrate more convincingly:

• how the close up works with the symbolism of the mask (1)
• how lighting (2) and theme (3) work together with other aspects to create meaning.

High Achieved

For Achieved, the student needs to analyse aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) through close viewing and/or listening, supported by evidence.               

This involves making developed interpretations of meanings and effects of visual and/or oral text(s).

This student has analysed aspects of dialogue, lighting, ideas and characters’ actions in The Dark Knight. The student makes developed interpretations of meanings and effects, analysing how dialogue shows how and why Gotham City seems hopeless now that Harvey Dent has been corrupted by the Joker (1).

There is interpretation of how lighting creates atmosphere, suspense and anxiety as to who will live or die, and how moonlight defines Dent’s personality and foreshadows a possible happy ending to the film (2). The student analyses how the character actions of Harvey Dent and Batman reflect ideas about ‘evil’ and ‘devotion’ (3).

To reach Merit, the student could demonstrate more convincing understanding of:

• how aspects work together to create meaning, such as character actions and ideas (3), and lighting and character actions (2)
• how dialogue works with Dent’s actions to emphasise his demise into evil (1).

Low Achieved

This student has analysed aspects of lighting, characters’ actions and theme in The Dark Knight. The student makes developed interpretations of meanings and effects by analysing how lighting is used to signal the Joker’s lack of humanity (1), how the actions of the Joker reveal his ruthless nature (3) and how ideas of greed are shown through the actions of Gotham City’s greedy criminals (4).

For a more secure Achieved, the student could further develop the interpretation of the use of the high and low angle shots to create tension and anxiety (2) and provide further analysis of ideas as an aspect.

High Not Achieved

This student has analysed aspects of characters’ actions and theme in The Dark Knight. The student makes developed interpretations of meanings and effects by analysing how the actions of the Joker reveal his ruthless nature (3) and how the ideas of greed are shown through the actions of Gotham City’s greedy criminals (4).  

To reach Achieved, the student could move from description of the Joker to analysis of how lighting is used to interpret his hidden identity or ‘the green tinge’ (1), and analyse how the close-up shot is linked to the Joker’s flight from justice (2).

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See all english assessment resources.