EASTER HOLIDAY HOMEWORK

Please complete both essays using a minimum of two sides per question. Use the examples given to you

1A Essay Question:
Minimum of two sides, use the essay A grade answer I have given you.


Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making.

nRefer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

 

______________________________________

Question 2: Collective Identity Question - Minimum of Two Sides.

Looking at two media, describe the ways in which a particular group of people (youth) are collectively represented or provided for, using specific examples to support your response.

- Provided for (how the Media represent and how youth revolt and fight back against representations - web 2.0, viral, etc could be an idea)

-Collectively represented - togetherness!

-Intergrate your theories into your text!!
REMEMBER: Contemporary vs historical, key terms, key theories discussed in depth, what will happen in the future. PRESS AND FILM! digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making.

nRefer to two case studies (press and film) but refer to a range of examples!!

Section 1A/1B Guidance & HOMEWORK TASK

A2 EXAM SECTION A

Exam: Unit G325 – Theoretical Evaluation of Production

50% of your exam (50 marks) is based on a Theoretical Evaluation of Production.

 

(In other words, half your exam requires you to reflect on your coursework.)

 Here’s a sample of what the exam paper will look like

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production

You must answer both 1(a) and 1(b).

In this section you need to write about your work for the Foundation Portfolio (Year 12) and Advanced Portfolio (Year 13) units. You must answer both 1(a) and 1(b).

I WOULD LIKE YOU TO ANSWER THESE TWO QUESTIONS FOR YOUR HOMEWORK USING THE GUIDES PROVIDED. I HAVE ADDED AN ADDITIONAL PLAN FOR SECTION 1(A) 

PLEASE TIME YOURSELF AT 1 HOUR TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION. THIS INCLUDES PLANNING. ANSWER BOTH QUESTIONS.

1 (a) “Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers”. In your own experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions? [25]

(b) “Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives”. Explain how you used conventional and / or experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces. [25]

SECTION A ESSAY PLAN:

An Essay Plan
My AS brief was to…………
Creativity is ……………..
I was able to demonstrate my creativity in a number of ways…….
Ways in which I supported my own creativity included….
Obstacles to my creativity included
…..working within conventions
…..taking risks when marks were at stake
…..working in isolation (getting lost in my own ideas)
…. lack of technical competence
…..lack of confidence
I think my ability to be creative really progressed in Year 13. I found that with the second brief…..I was able to….. and…… I found ways of avoiding the obstacles that had undermined my creativity in Year 12 by…..

As part of this I had to develop considerable post-production skills using Adobe Photoshop to…..

I used a variety of tools including …………………to …………………….In particular I used…………… to…………… While I was generally satisfied with my final productions, I was a little disappointed……..

In My A2 year, I was able to make considerable progress and build on some of my own perceived post-production weaknesses. I demonstrated new skills in my ability to use Photoshop to…..

My post-production skills were also developed beyond Photoshop in my A2 year. I made extensive use of Final Cut Express to …… The key skills that I developed included…., and I became particularly accomplished at. One of my most successful uses of the technology was in……As well as editing the video footage, I did a considerable amount of work recording and editing sound (give details). I imported this work into my project to add soundtrack music and sound effects.

THINGS TO CONSIDER FOR SECTION 1(A)

 Digital Technology

-          Adobe Photoshop

-          Adobe Premiere Elements

-          Microsoft Publisher

-          Microsoft Powerpoint / Word

-          WordPress.com

-          Youtube.com

-          Soundcloud.com

-          Slideshare.com

-          Digital camera

-          Digital camcorder

-          Internet (for research)

What were the technical pros and cons of the hardware/software?

In what ways was technology used to create the production?

In what ways did the technology constrain or enable the production?

 Creativity

-          What do you understand by ‘creativity’ and to what extent have you been creative?

-          How have you tried to facilitate and encourage your own creativity?

-          Did you experience limits/blocks on your own creativity?

-          How easy/difficult was it to be creative while still working to the brief?

-          Did working within conventions stifle your creativity?

-          To what extent did you need to work with others and ‘bounce ideas’ off other people to be truly creative?

-          How much of your creativity was about trying to picture things in your mind’s eye?

-          How much of your creativity was about trial and error?

-          To what extent was a lack of confidence an issue in terms of your creativity?

-          To what extent was a lack of technical competence/confidence an obstacle to your creativity?

I have put together some quite extensive notes on the theory of creativity. You should learn one or two quotes from this.

Here is an interesting presentation on Creativity .

 Research and planning

-          How much did research inform the development of your own ideas?

-          What types of research were most significant in developing your own ideas?

-          What difficulties did you encounter in your research?

-          How did you plan your production work and what types of planning were most effective?

-          What issues did you experience in moving from the planning to the production phase? How useful was your planning in the production phase?

-          What aspects should you have planned and prepared more thoroughly?

 Post-production

It would be possible to discuss some of the Photoshop effects that you used to manipulate photographs here but this topic really requires you to consider  your trailer project.

You would need to discuss:
EDITING – techniques used; style; pace; transitions and how the editing helped communicate meaning to the audience.

SOUNDTRACK & SOUND EFFECTS – the choices made and the impact of these choices on audiences.

SPECIAL EFFECTS – discuss any special effects (fast-motion, slow-motion etc) and any effects you used to distort/edit images. Again, the emphasis should be on the way these effects impact on audiences and communicate meaning.

SOME IDEAS FOR SECTION 1(B)

 Using conventions from real media texts

How much was your own production influenced by existing texts?

How did you identify the conventions? How did you research into existing texts?

Why follow conventions? Think about the relationship with audiences here.

Which conventions did you follow?

How easy was it to follow conventions in your own work? Were there any obstacles?

To what extent, if any, did you depart from existing conventions? What effects were you hoping to achieve by breaking some of the conventions?

To what extent did adherence to conventions limit your own creativity?

 

Pete's Media Blog

You need to look at this over the holidays for useful revision:

http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

Question 1B - Structure

1) What product did you make and when?
2) What is the synopsis and a brief idea of what your intentions were.
3) Key questions that arrised for the production in terms of the specific construction: narrative, genre, audience, representation, etc.
4) Codes and conventions that relate to the specific theory - subvert/conform, pos/negative?
5) Analyse against theories and explain why.
6) Evaluate the codes and conventions against theories and explain why.
7) Conclude how it conformed or subverted conventions and explain why...

ALSO: Time yourself and answer within half an hour!