Essay

Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology and evaluate how this contributed to your research and planning!

In AS our project was to create a front cover,contents page and 2 page spread for a music magazine. In A2 our project was to create a teaser trailer, a movie poster and magazine front cover.

In my AS project I used digital technology such as Google images, Microsoft Word and Slideshare in my research and planning. I used Google images to get pictures of front covers, contents pages and two page spreads to analyse and give me an idea of what my final product should look like. I then used Microsoft word to write down all the analysis that i had constructed before uploading it all to Slideshare in order to make it look neat and presentable. In AS I have definitely developed my skills in how to work Slideshare because before this course I had never heard of it before so had to learn how to use it and therefore developed skills in it. In my A2 work i used digital technology such as Google images, IMDB and my Iphone. I used Google images to get pictures of movie posters and front covers for movie magazine which i could analyse and give me an idea of what my final products should look like. I used IMDB to watch teaser trailers and analyse them to see what makes a trailer effective so I can make my trailer look as professional as possible. I used my Iphone to text and call my actors to make sure they knew what location we were shooting at and at what time we were doing so to make sure everything ran smoothly. I developed my analysis skills during my research and planning so that now I can do more in depth analysis of products and use them to help me with my projects.

In my AS project I used a programme called FindYourTribe which is an online quiz which puts you into groups of what type of person they think you are on the basis of how you answer the question. This allowed me to enter in the details of what I'm going to put in my music magazine to see which type of person i should aim my magazine at. In my A2 project I used IMDB to find out my target audience for my trailer. I did this by searching a film which was similar to mine e.g. 'The Social Network' I could see which target audience they aimed it at and aim my trailer at them as well. I developed my research skills in this in order to find all this information. This enabled me to make my trailer as specific to my target audience as possible.

I developed my skills from AS further to make my A2 project look professional.

Essay

In AS our project was to create a front cover,contents page and 2 page spread for a music magazine. In A2 our project was to create a teaser trailer, a movie poster and magazine front cover.

Over the course of my 2 years doing media I have learnt a lot and developed my technological skills majorly. I have developed my skills in such things as Photoshop and Indesign because before I started this course I didn't know how to use any of these programmes. I have learnt how to do such things as crop and cut in Photoshop in order to make my pictures look more professional. In A2 i concentrated on using Premiere Pro and Photoshop which i had no previous experience in using. I have developed these skills well and have made professional looking trailers and magazine front covers from it. Premiere required me to edit videos and shorten them down whilst placing sound bridges within it which took a lot of work.

In the pre-production stage of my AS coursework I analysed magazine front covers using the internet to find what layout and content would be perfect for my magazine. I then used media technology such as Microsoft Word to construct my analysis and use bullet points to do my points on what makes the magazines effective. In my A2 pre-production I analysed lots of teaser trailers using IMDB and Blogger to write down my finding and help plan see what effects i can use in my trailer and movie poster and magazine. I further developed my skills on photoshop in order to make the poster and magazine look professional by using such things as fade and tint to add effect.

In the actual production stage of my AS work i used Indesign and Photoshop to construct the magazine adding effects and making it look professional. Once finished i then uploaded it to Slideshare where all my word was changed into a Powerpoint and then embedded in my blog. However in my A2 production work I used Premiere Pro to construct my movie and Photoshop to construct my movie poster and magazine. I learnt and developed skills in how to embed music into my trailer. This required me to go on the internet and find a piece of music without a copyright on it which we could use. This allowed me to enhance my skills from AS and develop them further into making a good quality piece of work. I then uploaded my finished film and poster to Blogger where my work could be marked.

In my post production stage of my AS coursework I used programmes such as Powerpoint and Microsoft word to write down my findings and write my evaluation. I had some previous knowledge of how to use these so didn't really develop my skills any further. In my A2 work i posted my findings and evaluation on Blogger. However to do my evaluation I decided to video it and get things such as audience feedback and a directors cut to get a creative look to it. I think I raised my levels of creativity in this project as i hadn't used any of these editing software before and have now also learnt to put a video up on my blog which i believe is a real achievement for me.

Overall I think my skills have developed a massive amount throughout my AS and A2 course with the use of digital technology.

Exam Help

Section A Question 1a

Introduction: PDQ (Point Data Question)

Answer/give point of view to the question (I think my skills have developed in ………over the course of the two years/from AS to A2)

Outline briefly what you made across both years

Explain to the examiner how you are going to structure the essay

Structure

You should approach your essays using 3 stages:

1)      Pre-production

2)      Production

3)      Post-production

(Digital technology, creativity, use of real media texts)

You need to ask yourselves the following questions:

What digital technology did you use at AS pre-production (3 examples)

What digital technology did you develop in A2 pre-production (at least 3 progression examples)

What digital technology did the students use at AS production (3 examples)

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 production? (at least 3 progression examples)

What digital technologies did you use at AS post-production? (3 examples)

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 post-production (at least 3 progression examples)

G325 Section A: Exemplar Essay

1a)

Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.

In the first year we researched existing music magazines and analysed each one so that we could gain knowledge of particular layouts, fonts and key elements that need to be contained in our production to make it successful. Research and planning allowed us to recognise ‘mastheads’ on magazines as being the most important and therefore the need to focus on a font more detailed to keep continuity with the contents page and double page spread which we also had to create.

Personally I researched ‘Rock’ magazines such as Kerrang, NME and others because I had chosen after carrying out a questionnaire to use Rock music as my theme. The real life media texts allowed me to visualise my favourite parts from each magazine – wripped sticker graphics and broken font on my own work which I then attempted to recreate within Photoshop CS4. In year one we were limited to what we could research because magazines were the only theme however, in the second year I was able to develop my ability to research real life media texts much further because we had a range of products we needed to create all under the ‘horror’ genre this time. I was able to research teaser trailers analysing my favourite and least favourite parts allowing me to plan with a mood board which I produced from a range of stills from previous horror films my ideas for my own trailer which helped me to develop my production of my products in relation to real life media texts and techniques such as restricted narration and handheld camera found in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ trailer which inspired my trailer ‘Laquem’ which is also set in the woods. Research into film documentaries like the ‘American Nightmare’ inspired me to create a product which reinforced fear and went against usual horror conventions to make it more interesting. Over the second year research became so important to achieving a product which was realistic and is now like my own distributed on on youtube as a real life media text of its own.

Real life media texts like advertising film posters were able to help me develop my Photoshop skills further because I was able to push myself with the ‘colour burn’ filters and want to create the scary atmosphere of my trailer from just an image and text which I found really fun.

Research into film magazines allowed me to develop my work from AS level so much further because I was able to produce a high standard piece of work in two weeks this year when the magazines took over 3 months last year which shows how much my skills have improves just by being able to constantly refer back to real life media texts for inspiration and even colour schemes that work well together such as black and red which in the first year I just found experimenting with. Research into horror trailers allowed me to recognise different styles of film and how we like Alfred Hitchcock could be an auteur creating new angles and ideas using generic conventions as well as unconventional representations that I have picked upon when watching films and analysing certain techniques which I have then attempted to do in Final Cut Pro when editing certain shots together to create collision cutting and changes in pace which my trailer does extremely well. I was inspired initially by the hand held camera in the

trailer REC and the fact I want as an auteur to change the stereotyped representations to be able use a female psycho killer.

Research also allowed me to produce text and intertitles that shook in order to capture my audience but narrating the story slightly so the shots when together made sense. Research into types of camera movements needed were really helpful and allowed me to completely change the pace with tracking shots and handheld camera which I noticed was used in Silent Hill and American Werewolf in London which I analysed and placed on my blog for reference as some pieces of footage I wanted to recreate including the final girl representations.

L4 6
L4 6
L4 3

15

the answer is descriptive and may offer limited clarity. There is little, if any, evaluation of progress

 

candidates offer a mostly clear, relevent and reasonable examples but didn't elaborate

 

the answer makes basic use of relevent media termonology

 

some simple ideas have been expressed 

 

Describe how you managed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making?

 

 

Explanation/analysis/argument	I learnt to improve my skills at Photoshop as I had never used it before. Discovered how to make the most out of youtube. Learnt how to manipulate images to make them look better How to use Indesign!!
Use of examples	Photshop – photo manipulation Indesign Premiere Pro – adding sound bridges
Use of terminology	Connotations Eye dropper tool

Explanation/analysis/argument	Learnt how to analyse images and contexts and write essays on them. Looked at front covers, and films to get a good idea of what I need to do to get a good grade. Did scripts and stuff to organise actors and everything for my production.
Use of examples	Microsoft word Internet Powerpoint Blogger
Use of terminology	Preliminary

Section A Question 1a

• Work 25 marks
• Will be evaluating your AS and A2 coursework in terms of the skills you have developed over the 2 years
• 30 mins to answer question

1 or more of the following areas will be selected for you to write about:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and planning
• Post-production
• Using conventions from real media texts

What is it about?

• What did you do?
• How did you do it?
• How did your skills develop?
• All supported with specific examples
• In relationto the area(s) in question

Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of people that you have studied

Planning

1) I want to see a plan/mind map using this structure that incorporates the four guided questions:

a) (Historic) How does contemporary representation compare with that of the past? Changed it parts but some still same (fear of some kids) pickpockets. Different crime and media to show it. Women have better roles in films and activities.

b) (Contemporary; main focus) How do contemporary media represent different collective groups in different ways? In stories making the elders sound vulnerable and young people sound yobbish. More stories about youth crime to create moral panic between communities.

c) What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people? Can create fear in societies with incriminating stories about youths and hoodies.

d) To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’ ? It is mediated but some is false for example youth identity isn’t all about hoodies and crime.

e) Conclusion; summary, the future and your own opinion

I think the media represent youths unfairly because you don’t hear about youths doing good stuff for the community in newspapers or on the news you only hear bad stuff. 

Essay

Contemporary representation has changed over the years but in some parts the representation is still the same. For example the representation of youths being pick pockets back in history could be linked to the representation that today’s youth always steal from shops and rob other people who are vulnerable. Also the views on youths in this modern time are worse than back then because there is more media to mediate what is going on and can do in depth stories which everyone can see. The one positive representation that has changed is that women are becoming a bigger role in society for example playing bigger and starring roles in films instead of being extras. Contemporary media represents different collective groups in a number of different ways such as in news stories making the elderly sound vulnerable and all youths sound violent and yobbish. This isn’t helped by the fact that there are more stories about youths doing crime on the news than anything else which can create moral panic (Cohen) between communities and cause a divide. The social implications of different media representations of groups of people are that it can create fear in societies with incriminating stories about youths and hoodies. This will make others fear them and divide the community up causing some people not to leave their homes because they are too scared. As most programmes on the TV show, some adults think that all youths are criminals and violent people so the youths have to go and change that stereotype by going to meet them and talk it through. This is all started by the media and I think that current media is splitting people up. Human identity is increasingly mediated but some is false for example youth identity isn’t all about hoodies and crime. Some youths are actually very intelligent and against all this crime being committed but nobody hears about them because the media are trying to portray their own ideas of what youth identity looks like which is wrong. In conclusion to this I think the media represent youths unfairly because you don’t hear about youths doing good stuff for the community in newspapers or on the news you only hear bad stuff. This can create false panic in communities and make the youth of today feared. It may also lead youths to commit more crimes if they think that everyone thinks they are committing crime a lot anyways they might live up to that stereotype. For example in the film Harry Brown the youths are represented as violent and always commiting crime. In the film Quadrophenia ,which is along the same story line but set 50 years before, the youths are still represented as violent and commiting crimes but they do it in different watys which shows how things have modernised in terms of representation of youths. Newspapers also portray that youths only do bad. This was shown in a video we watched where some people thought that over 60% of crime was committed by teens. This is caused by the newspapers only printing bad stories about youths because they believe that it would get them more readers. This doesnt show that some teens actually do things to help the community which can cause a false sense of fear in communities between the young and the old.

Represenatiton of young people

"What is happening to our young people? The disrespect their elders; they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying.What is to become of them?" Plato 4th Century.


Characteristics of stereotypes

• they are simplistic
• can be conscious or unconscious
• they are rigid, thus not easily corrected

Stereotypes are social constructs

• they show values  that reinforce group and individual subordination
• they marginalise people, treating them as  'the other'
• they originate in and reflect the power relations in society because they are part of culture's ideology.

Hegemony in News

• Media industries operate within a structure that produces and reinforces the dominant ideology via a consensual 'world view'
• This world view is produced predominantly by white middle class, middle aged men
• It is their idea and values that  infiltrate media texts and ensure that other voices do not get heard. 

Propaganda = a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position

Moral panic =creating fear

WORDS: thug, disrespectful, thieves, hoodies, criminals, 

WORDS: Wise, judgemental, critical, talk a lot,