3.2 Visual Text 91473
On this page you will find examples of past exam questions.
Click HERE for a list of different film techniques to write about.
Click HERE for a list of different film techniques to write about.
Past exam questions
Exam questions from previous years.
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS Write an essay on at least ONE visual or oral text that you have studied, in response to ONE of the statements below.
If you choose to write about more than one text, the texts may be:
If you choose to write about more than one text, the texts may be:
- The same type (eg two drama productions)
- A combination of different types (“intertextual studies” – eg a film and a radio programme).
Sample paper
- “A successful visual or oral text is one in which a director seeks to create new realities and / or fresh perspectives for old ideas.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “We learn most about ourselves when the text is informed by events and people in our contemporary world.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “Forget the big players in the world; it is the people in the margins of our society whose stories are most compelling.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “In order to motivate or persuade an audience to take action, a text must appeal to the ears as much as to the eyes.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “Great drama is only at its best when it is calm and restrained.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “Visual or oral adaptations of traditional written texts often fail to capture the power of the original.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “Directors of visual or oral texts have their own distinctive styles which set them apart from others in their chosen genre.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied. - “Exceptional special effects might entertain the audience but they are often at the expense of the deeper message of the text.”
To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Respond to this question with close reference to one or more text(s) you have studied.
2013 NCEA exam
Discuss the extent to which you agree with your chosen statement. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
- The best creative techniques are those which elevate the audience into new worlds or understandings.
- Creating the most satisfying audience experience requires a skilful combination of narrative and production techniques.
- To be successful, a visual or oral text must have lovable characters.
- The most powerful visual or oral text is one that explores personal stories of human interest.
- An enjoyable visual or oral text is one in which the audience gets a happy ending.
- Even if the storyline is one we have heard before, a text can always be made new and refreshing if its creators use effective or original production techniques.
- It is the director’s purpose to manipulate the audience to a point where they feel uncomfortable.
- We need to see ourselves or hear our own voices in a text to truly appreciate the ideas of its creators.
- Enjoyment of a visual or oral text can be experienced only through the power of an engaging script.
- While reading the pages of a text can be satisfying, live staging elevates the experience of the text to another level.
2014 NCEA exam
Discuss the extent to which you agree with your chosen statement. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
- Where evil appears to triumph in a visual or oral text, we learn a harsh lesson about humanity.
- The most significant ideas arise from the setting of a text, rather than from any other visual or oral feature.
- In a visual or oral text we learn more from the character’s journey than from their destination.
- It is often in what we hear, and not what we see, that a director’s or creator’s message is most engaging.
- The best special effects support or develop our understanding, rather than cloud our thinking.
- To be successful, a visual or oral text requires a linear storyline.
- The most satisfying visual or oral text is one in which the audience experiences a mixture of tears and laughter.
- It is often the everyday issues that matter to us most when engaging with a visual or oral text.
- It is often in small or seemingly insignificant details that the message of a visual or oral text is clearest.
- Nowadays it is rare for a visual or oral text to come from a single genre, and we are more likely to experience a combination of genres.
2015 NCEA exam
Discuss the extent to which you agree with your chosen statement. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
- The director’s primary concern is to create a perfect combination of visual and verbal elements.
- It is not until the closing of the text that we truly understand the importance of the opening.
- A satisfying text is one in which the message is timeless.
- It is the grim moments of a text that engage us most.
- A successful text has multiple ways of shaping our understanding.
- A memorable text is one in which the audience can see and / or hear themselves.
- Effective settings help us to understand the ideas that lie beneath the surface.
- For a text to be appealing it needs to have a heroic character.
- A director or creator is successful when they take the audience away from comfort and security.
- At the core of an effective text is a dynamic relationship.
2016 NCEA exam
Discuss the extent to which you agree with your chosen statement. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
- The most engaging texts are those that deal with the complexities of life.
- For a text to be appealing, the audience must see the protagonist in conflict.
- An effective text is one which has contrasting or changing settings.
- To communicate ideas throughout, a text must have a striking opening.
- What matters most to viewers is not what a text makes them think, but how it makes them feel.
- Texts which deserve attention are those that challenge our thinking.
- The use of technical aspects is essential to engage the emotions of an audience.
- The key to a successful text is a happy ending.
- The most effective villain is one who both attracts and repels.
- A clever use of structure is the best way to create drama.
2017 NCEA exam
Discuss the extent to which you agree with your chosen statement. Respond critically to the statement by making a close analysis of the text(s).
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
STATEMENTS (Choose ONE)
- New Zealand film gives us a lens through which we can see ourselves.
- The uncomfortable moments in a text teach us the most.
- It is the careful use of technical elements that makes a text memorable.
- It is the way that characters change in a text that makes them human.
- A text set in a challenging environment has much to teach us.
- Symbols are a rich source of meaning in an effective text.
- To be successful, a text must bring us moments of joy.
- The effective use of fantasy has much to show us about real life.
Mock exam questions
The following exam questions have been used in the mock exams from various schools.
2013
- .A successful visual or oral text is one in which a director seeks to create new realities and / or new perspectives for old ideas.
- We learn most about ourselves when the text is informed by events and people in our contemporary world.
- Forget the big players in the world is the people in the margins of our society whose stories are most compelling.
- In order to motivate or persuade an audience to take action, a text must appeal to ears as much as to the eyes.
- Great drama is only at its best when it is calm and restrained.
- Visual and / or oral adaptations of traditional written texts often fail to capture the power of the original/
- Directors of visual or oral texts have their own distinctive styles which set them apart from others in their chosen genre.
- Exceptional special effects might entertain the audience, but they are often at the expense of a deeper message of the text.
2015
- Visual or oral texts present us with a world in crisis to initiate social commentary.
- A study of visual or oral texts shows us that the self is an ever changing thing.
- Visual or oral texts transport us from our daily lives in order to better understand them.
- Characters who challenge conventions are the most absorbing.
- Traditional storyline patterns deliver clear messages the best.
- Challenging visual or oral texts show conflicts in such a way that it is not easy to choose sides.
- Successful visual or oral texts leave us uncertain at the end.
- Skilful production techniques allow us to see that the texts have been crafted for specific purposes.
- Visual or oral texts ar at their best when they deliver dark but significant information.
- Engaging scripts show us representations of suffering survived.