Hi everyone,
Please follow this blog, as it is where I will post some of the work you will need this year.
Mr Ayres
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
A2 Exam notes
Some thought about the A2 exam.
G325 - Critical Perspectives in Media
From The Spec:
Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two specific production practices. The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:
Digital Technology
Creativity
Research and planning
Post-production
Using conventions from real media texts
In the examination, questions will be posed using one or two of these categories.
Where candidates have produced relevant work outside the context of their A Level media course, they are free to additionally refer to this experience.
Genre
Narrative
Representation
Audience
Media language
In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.In some circumstances, candidates will be expected to select the production that appears to relate most effectively to the specific concept that arises in the exam question. Candidates may choose to write about work undertaken at AS or A2, main task or preliminary/ancillary.
Section B - Contemporary Media Issues
The topic areas for this question require an understanding of contemporary media texts, industries, audiences and debates.
Media in the online age
So what does all this mean?
Section A - Question 1(a)
The emphasis of this question is on SKILLS DEVELOPMENT . So specifically how have your skills developed through the whole course. So how have the following areas changed, and improved from the first AS to the A2 to the second AS (if applicable). You can discuss other Media texts that you have created here, if you have done anything.
Your question will be on one or more of the following areas:
Digital Technology - What did you use and how E.g. Blogger, Premiere, Photoshop, In Design, Publisher, Vimeo, YouTube, Prezi, Other Internet based stuff (look over final evaluation question on blogs)
// Remember SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Creativity - Possibly need to look at codes and conventions of products, then discuss how you created something with influence from existing texts but developed them using creative approaches. Possibly look at the different stages (planning, production, evaluation) and how your creativity improved. How was your portfolio more creative for the A2 than the original AS work?
Research and planning - Methods of research and planning? Where did you research? Did it develop? How did you plan? Collectively, in a group? Pre-Prod techniques? How did you approach A2 coursework differently? Splitting up work load to group member?
Post-production - Similar to above. Focussing on photoshop editing for AS and Premiere editing in A2 and second AS. Development? How did you learn to edit? What resources did you use?
Using conventions from real media texts - speaks for itself really. Codes and conventions. Following them (imitation), breaking them (creation)? Inspiration? Development???? Did you follow to start, but then altered as confidence in creating texts developed?
A guide would be something along the lines of:
Select one production to apply to the question. Question will be about one of the following:
Of course this is all about Media in the Online Age. The question will probably be a 'discussion' type question of a 'to what extent' type question. If it does say something like this, it will still be looking for an answer which discusses both sides of the story.
So, you will need to offer a reletively unbiased view on the idea of Online Media.
On one hand, online media:
Case studies -
So, TV has had to 'remediate' itself, making on demand TV. The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Virgin have had to adapt to the changing TV viewing demographic demanding to watch ever more diverse content at times which suit themselves.
Radio stations have had to create podcasts in order to appeal to audiences who only listen to ipods
News companies have had to post their news articles online where there is so much competition for news due to the carcophony of other bloggers and online journalists.
All of these companies have of course had to deal with the difficulty of financing and getting paid for online activity. Many newspapers have tried to make people pay a subscription to read online articles, but this seems to be failing.
On the other hand...
All these amatuer media producers only produce a constant stream of rubbish, as David Buckingham talks about it "dancing cats and skateboarding dogs". Or something like that.
I'll try and write more when I can....
....
....
G325 - Critical Perspectives in Media
From The Spec:
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production
Candidates answer two compulsory questions. The first requires them to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The second asks them to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical concept.
Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two specific production practices. The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:
In the examination, questions will be posed using one or two of these categories.
Where candidates have produced relevant work outside the context of their A Level media course, they are free to additionally refer to this experience.
Question 1(b) requires candidates to select one production and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. The list of concepts to which questions will relate is as follows:
In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.In some circumstances, candidates will be expected to select the production that appears to relate most effectively to the specific concept that arises in the exam question. Candidates may choose to write about work undertaken at AS or A2, main task or preliminary/ancillary.
Section B - Contemporary Media Issues
The topic areas for this question require an understanding of contemporary media texts, industries, audiences and debates.
Media in the online age
How have online media developed?
- What has been the impact of the internet on media production?
- How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past?
- To what extent has convergence transformed the media?
So what does all this mean?
Section A - Question 1(a)
The emphasis of this question is on SKILLS DEVELOPMENT . So specifically how have your skills developed through the whole course. So how have the following areas changed, and improved from the first AS to the A2 to the second AS (if applicable). You can discuss other Media texts that you have created here, if you have done anything.
Your question will be on one or more of the following areas:
// Remember SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
A guide would be something along the lines of:
- Very brieflly outline the works carried out
- Discuss the topic (from above) in relation to the first media text
- Discuss the second media text as above, clearly stating what differed and how you developed your skills
- Sum up focussing on DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS
Select one production to apply to the question. Question will be about one of the following:
- Genre - Genre theory, codes and conventions. http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=genre
- Narrative - Narrative theory, Toredov (equil, disequil theory)? linear? flaskbacks? how have you represented this? monotone? http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
- Representation - How have the characters been represented? Remember you AS exam work. http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=represent
- Audience - Specifically who was the intended audience? How did you make your product appeal to them? http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience
- Media language - All of above, Semiotics, Barthes, codes conventions, connotation, denotation. First few parts of this: http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/irvinem/theory/Theory-KeyTerms.html
Of course this is all about Media in the Online Age. The question will probably be a 'discussion' type question of a 'to what extent' type question. If it does say something like this, it will still be looking for an answer which discusses both sides of the story.
So, you will need to offer a reletively unbiased view on the idea of Online Media.
On one hand, online media:
- allows for every one to create media texts (prosumers)
- allows for the audience to watch, listen and read what they want when they want it
- immediacy - immediate access to media
- watch/listen for free
- download for free (both legal and illegal)
Case studies -
- Film/TV (previously only VHS/DVD, Cinema, actual TV)
- YouTube
- iplayer
- 4OD
- Music (previously records, tapes, CDs)
- Mp3s / ipods
- Napster
- BitTorrent
- Last FM
- Spotify
- Vevo
- News (previously newpapers/other print press)
- Wikileaks
- Wikipedia
- Blogs
- Twitter (also worth noting here the whole Arab Spring thing here too)
So, TV has had to 'remediate' itself, making on demand TV. The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Virgin have had to adapt to the changing TV viewing demographic demanding to watch ever more diverse content at times which suit themselves.
Radio stations have had to create podcasts in order to appeal to audiences who only listen to ipods
News companies have had to post their news articles online where there is so much competition for news due to the carcophony of other bloggers and online journalists.
All of these companies have of course had to deal with the difficulty of financing and getting paid for online activity. Many newspapers have tried to make people pay a subscription to read online articles, but this seems to be failing.
On the other hand...
All these amatuer media producers only produce a constant stream of rubbish, as David Buckingham talks about it "dancing cats and skateboarding dogs". Or something like that.
I'll try and write more when I can....
....
....
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
A2 Pitch Presentations
Year 9 Feedback
Hi,
I have found some feedback from the year 9/10 group who watched your music videos. We just recorded the audio, you should download it, put it in to your blogs and write about it.
I have separated the clips into groups and put them on the resources drive.
I have found some feedback from the year 9/10 group who watched your music videos. We just recorded the audio, you should download it, put it in to your blogs and write about it.
I have separated the clips into groups and put them on the resources drive.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Glee Videos
I have finally uploaded the Glee videos to Vimeo:
Here is the link to the channel for the school http://vimeo.com/user4843608/videos
Make sure you do a blog post which embeds the video, not just links to this post!!!
Here is the link to the channel for the school http://vimeo.com/user4843608/videos
Make sure you do a blog post which embeds the video, not just links to this post!!!
Equipment List
I have been asked to produce a list of the equipment you used for you productions, so here goes:
HD Video Camera - Panasonic SD700
Digital SLR (stills) Camera - Nikon D3000
HD Video Camera - Panasonic SD700
Digital SLR (stills) Camera - Nikon D3000
Friday, 29 April 2011
AS Evaluation
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
Remember when we looked at 9 frames from Art of the title sequence? Well now it's your turn to do the same with nine of your frames.
You should go through the final version of the project and select nine distinct frames which you screengrab and drop into a photoshop in the same style as the website. You will be using these to write about how typical or not of opening sequences your particular design is, so choose them carefully.
Once you have the nine frames neatly in Photoshop, screengrab the whole thing and post to your blog, then write an analysis of how you have used such conventions.
The aspects we would like you to consider across your nine frames are:
The title of the film
Setting/location
Costumes and props
Camerawork and editing
Title font and style
Story and how the opening sets it up
Genre and how the opening suggests it
How characters are introduced
Special effects
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those characters and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume, role in film etc.
So for example if you have a lone cop type character, look for other lone cops to compare him with...
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For this question, you could to do a 'director's commentary' style voiceover explaining some of the key features of your opening
You will need to script the voiceover which deals with institutional issues to include:
discussion of your production company name and logo and the role of such companies
What does a production company do?
the idea of a distributor and who that might be and why.
where the money might have come from for a film such as yours
why the various people are named in the titles- which jobs appear in titles and in what order and how have you reflected this?
what your film is similar to 'institutionally' (name some films which would be released in a similar way)
You need to refer to actual company names and processes so you will need to go back to the early posts on film companies and maybe do a bit more research
When you have scripted, record the voiceover using Final Cut on a new audio timeline, then export to quicktime and embed on blog.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
You should have a drawing of your target audience member and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite Tv programme would be, etc.
make sure you have taken a photo of it, post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would watch your film.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
You will use YOUTUBE to reach the audience so need to write about Youtube's tags and annotations fuctions.
These annotations will highlight the ways in which your Film Opening links to other similiar films in order to attract the particular Audience you have previously identified.
Your annotations will refer to genre conventions, use of music, similiarities with other movies and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your imaginary film.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Take a picture of each other holding the kit you have used, there are pics available on the resources drive. This might just be the camera and tripod, and your Mac but there may be other things you want in the shot. You could use a picture you've used before for the pre-prod section, just annotate it differently.
Drop the image onto your blog and annotate it, adding all the programs and other technology you have used as screengrabs and what you learnt about it/from using it. Your written text need only be minimal. You could include reference to all the online and computer programs you have used such as Youtube, blogger, Premiere, Photoshop, Vimeo, Prezi etc.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Concentrate on editing and camerawork.
Grab some frames from both tasks and put them on the blog and show what you know about shot types, edit terms and techniques.
Make sure you mention the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
Remember when we looked at 9 frames from Art of the title sequence? Well now it's your turn to do the same with nine of your frames.
You should go through the final version of the project and select nine distinct frames which you screengrab and drop into a photoshop in the same style as the website. You will be using these to write about how typical or not of opening sequences your particular design is, so choose them carefully.
Once you have the nine frames neatly in Photoshop, screengrab the whole thing and post to your blog, then write an analysis of how you have used such conventions.
The aspects we would like you to consider across your nine frames are:
The title of the film
Setting/location
Costumes and props
Camerawork and editing
Title font and style
Story and how the opening sets it up
Genre and how the opening suggests it
How characters are introduced
Special effects
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those characters and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume, role in film etc.
So for example if you have a lone cop type character, look for other lone cops to compare him with...
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For this question, you could to do a 'director's commentary' style voiceover explaining some of the key features of your opening
You will need to script the voiceover which deals with institutional issues to include:
discussion of your production company name and logo and the role of such companies
What does a production company do?
the idea of a distributor and who that might be and why.
where the money might have come from for a film such as yours
why the various people are named in the titles- which jobs appear in titles and in what order and how have you reflected this?
what your film is similar to 'institutionally' (name some films which would be released in a similar way)
You need to refer to actual company names and processes so you will need to go back to the early posts on film companies and maybe do a bit more research
When you have scripted, record the voiceover using Final Cut on a new audio timeline, then export to quicktime and embed on blog.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
You should have a drawing of your target audience member and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite Tv programme would be, etc.
make sure you have taken a photo of it, post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would watch your film.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
You will use YOUTUBE to reach the audience so need to write about Youtube's tags and annotations fuctions.
These annotations will highlight the ways in which your Film Opening links to other similiar films in order to attract the particular Audience you have previously identified.
Your annotations will refer to genre conventions, use of music, similiarities with other movies and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your imaginary film.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Take a picture of each other holding the kit you have used, there are pics available on the resources drive. This might just be the camera and tripod, and your Mac but there may be other things you want in the shot. You could use a picture you've used before for the pre-prod section, just annotate it differently.
Drop the image onto your blog and annotate it, adding all the programs and other technology you have used as screengrabs and what you learnt about it/from using it. Your written text need only be minimal. You could include reference to all the online and computer programs you have used such as Youtube, blogger, Premiere, Photoshop, Vimeo, Prezi etc.
EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Concentrate on editing and camerawork.
Grab some frames from both tasks and put them on the blog and show what you know about shot types, edit terms and techniques.
Make sure you mention the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot
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