A2 Evaluation - Introduction
The last part of your coursework is to construct an evaluation of your production work, including both the music video and the print pieces.
As with the first year, you are going to be using the blog technology (you should now be completely expert!), but this also means that you should incorporate video, images, links, powerpoints and prezis. These should be used judiciously, rather than technology for the sake of technology.
A2 work is not necessarily longer than AS work, but it does require greater depth, thought and engagement from you and therefore it is likely to be longer. Specifically, the examiner will be looking for evaluations that make excellent use of course terms, concepts and theories explored in previous classes, rather than highly personal discussions that reveal little about your knowledge of media studies.
As evaluative work is also going to be undertaken in the exam (questions 1a and 1b), you could treat the coursework evaluation as a dry run, a practice, using all of the useful terms and concepts that could be explored later in the exam hall. The coursework evaluation in many ways is the end of the coursework, but the beginning of the exam preparation.
As with the AS evaluation, you will be required to respond to a set of questions....
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
This booklet is designed to guide you through each of these questions and provide some suggestions for responses. You will be given a list of key terms to use, but beware.... these should only be used appropriately. It is not a list of essential terms but a list of possible key words and ideas. You will be rewarded for using them in thoughtful and engaged ways. Clearly, misuse of a term signals an inability to understand the concept at an appropriate level. In many ways, it would be better to be thoughtful and use few terms than to use all the terms incorrectly, or inappropriately.
The Assessment Criteria
Level 4 16–20 marks
There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
Do you make appropriate references to other texts – do you know how your work is being influenced by other texts? Are you knowledgeable about the texts that are similar to yours?
There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
Have you carefully considered the affects of new media on your work and the way in which the products that you produced might be produced, distributed and consumed? (refer back to our work on music industry)
There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
You have revealed a detailed understanding of house style and how it is used to create, or even not create, a coherent package.
There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
You have interpreted the audience feedback carefully, considered the ways it might be read and how it might have influenced the production of your work. Have you made use of relevant theory?
There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
Have you used appropriate ways of communicating? For example, have you used a video diary when a Powerpoint might be more appropriate?
There is excellent ability to communicate.
Your writing is clear, makes use of appropriate terms, doesn't waffle and uses correct spelling/grammar etc.
There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
How have you presented your work in the blog? Are you in control of the technology? Have you used a range of technologies?
To summarise...
• Make it thoughtful and interesting. Consider thoughtful and exciting ways to present ideas.
• Use key terms and concepts throughout. (after writing a paragraph...ask yourself how much of it will be rewarded by the examiner?)
• Don't just write essays...images, links, powerpoints, Youtube clips, video diary style discussions, director’s commentaries are all good.
• Refer to websites/other resources you have used to help you. (cite sources , surname, dates plus web addresses )
• Make lots of notes and really think about it before blogging anything
• Do one question per blog post.
• Don't plagiarise! This is your work!
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Friday, 3 February 2012
Deadline approaching ...
The deadline for the music video is Friday 10th of Feb, and that means you'll need to finish editing before last lesson on Friday - we'll need that lesson for uploading your video to Youtube and embedding it on your blogs. By 4.10 on Friday it needs to be on the blog of every group member, and this will take a bit of time.
A couple of last reminders
- make sure your lip synch/guitar playing-synch/drumming-synch is spot on.
- aim for fifty shots per minute for a song with a medium pace - if you've gone for a very fast song, you might even have a few more. Even a slow song should have around thirty shots per minute.
- add a title at the star with this info: names of all group members, Worcester Sixth Form College, 24435
The videos are looking good, so well done.
A couple of last reminders
- make sure your lip synch/guitar playing-synch/drumming-synch is spot on.
- aim for fifty shots per minute for a song with a medium pace - if you've gone for a very fast song, you might even have a few more. Even a slow song should have around thirty shots per minute.
- add a title at the star with this info: names of all group members, Worcester Sixth Form College, 24435
The videos are looking good, so well done.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Christmas
A couple of reminders:
Research and planning will be marked from Monday 19th December at 9 a.m., so you can't post any more after that time.
Don't forget to pick up your camera if you've booked one.
Remember the filming advice - lots of close ups, lots of unusual angles, plenty of camera movement, changes of location and costume, lots of cutaways to instruments, surroundings, audience, performer looking moody etc. All this will give you choices in the edit. Film the performance lots of times, make sure you take the music with you for your performer to lip synch to.
And also, have a good holiday. Here's a Christmas message for you.
Research and planning will be marked from Monday 19th December at 9 a.m., so you can't post any more after that time.
Don't forget to pick up your camera if you've booked one.
Remember the filming advice - lots of close ups, lots of unusual angles, plenty of camera movement, changes of location and costume, lots of cutaways to instruments, surroundings, audience, performer looking moody etc. All this will give you choices in the edit. Film the performance lots of times, make sure you take the music with you for your performer to lip synch to.
And also, have a good holiday. Here's a Christmas message for you.
Friday, 9 December 2011
Audience
Audience in your blog:
Audience profile – 1 post detailed, with visual illustration
Audience research – 1 post for now, updates as you produce more work in progress. Show the audience work in progress: this could include moodboards, storyboards, animatics, actor photos, costume ideas, location pictures … Give details of responses from your Facebook group, and for a high grade, at least one filmed focus group.On Facebook, ask specific questions, not ‘what do you think of this’ type questions. For example: ‘What genre of music do you think this moodboard suggests?’; ‘What one word would you use to describe this storyboard?’; ‘Would you like to be friends with this girl?’. In a focus group, your questions can be more open and you can use follow up questions if you need more information.
Later you should do regular blog posts updating on what your audience think of work in progress.
Audience theory – 1 post answering the following questions and mentioning Morley
Cultural Studies Approach to audience: according to Morley, audiences aren’t just passively affected by media texts – they take an active role in reading a text. How might audiences read the values expressed in your video and print work in a preferred, negotiated and oppositional way? What are you going to do to encourage the target audience to take a preferred reading? What kind of person might take an oppositional reading?
Reminder of cultural studies approach:
The Cultural Studies Approach Perspective on Audience:
• Developed within the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. BCCCS, principally by David Morley.
• Attempts to understand how the media might be powerful and influence audiences (effects research), but also encourages researchers to understand the active nature of certain audiences (uses and gratifications theory).
The approach tries to understand the intended effects of media texts, but also sees audiences as active, stating that different audiences adopt different standpoints in relation to the values expressed within a media text. These different standpoints are:
• Preferred (or dominant) reading (Morley) - the audience recognise the values being offered by the text and accepts them as natural and correct.
• Negotiated reading (Morley) - the audience recognisethe values in the text as legitimate and accept them in general, but adapt their reading of the text to fit in with their experiences and interest.
• Oppositional reading (Morley) - the audience understands the values in the text, but disagrees with them and rejects them.
For example, take a print advert which represents a sexually objectified women as a victim of violence.
• A preferred reading would be
• A negotiated reading might be .....
• An oppositional reading might be produced by someone concerned by violence against women who would completely reject the values offered by the advert, and would see it as degrading and offensive to women.
Audience profile – 1 post detailed, with visual illustration
Audience research – 1 post for now, updates as you produce more work in progress. Show the audience work in progress: this could include moodboards, storyboards, animatics, actor photos, costume ideas, location pictures … Give details of responses from your Facebook group, and for a high grade, at least one filmed focus group.On Facebook, ask specific questions, not ‘what do you think of this’ type questions. For example: ‘What genre of music do you think this moodboard suggests?’; ‘What one word would you use to describe this storyboard?’; ‘Would you like to be friends with this girl?’. In a focus group, your questions can be more open and you can use follow up questions if you need more information.
Later you should do regular blog posts updating on what your audience think of work in progress.
Audience theory – 1 post answering the following questions and mentioning Morley
Cultural Studies Approach to audience: according to Morley, audiences aren’t just passively affected by media texts – they take an active role in reading a text. How might audiences read the values expressed in your video and print work in a preferred, negotiated and oppositional way? What are you going to do to encourage the target audience to take a preferred reading? What kind of person might take an oppositional reading?
Reminder of cultural studies approach:
The Cultural Studies Approach Perspective on Audience:
• Developed within the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. BCCCS, principally by David Morley.
• Attempts to understand how the media might be powerful and influence audiences (effects research), but also encourages researchers to understand the active nature of certain audiences (uses and gratifications theory).
The approach tries to understand the intended effects of media texts, but also sees audiences as active, stating that different audiences adopt different standpoints in relation to the values expressed within a media text. These different standpoints are:
• Preferred (or dominant) reading (Morley) - the audience recognise the values being offered by the text and accepts them as natural and correct.
• Negotiated reading (Morley) - the audience recognisethe values in the text as legitimate and accept them in general, but adapt their reading of the text to fit in with their experiences and interest.
• Oppositional reading (Morley) - the audience understands the values in the text, but disagrees with them and rejects them.
For example, take a print advert which represents a sexually objectified women as a victim of violence.
• A preferred reading would be
• A negotiated reading might be .....
• An oppositional reading might be produced by someone concerned by violence against women who would completely reject the values offered by the advert, and would see it as degrading and offensive to women.
Filming your music video
Some good advice here. Remember to film the performance lots of times, from different angles, with some close ups and some long shots, and with plenty of camera movement.
Thursday, 8 December 2011
Deadlines
More deadlines:
Research and planning: by the end of Sunday 18th Decmeber. Whatever is there when I start marking at 9 on Monday morning is what will be marked. There won't be a media lesson on the last day of term.
Draft music video: 27th January. Better get filming soon!
Final music video 10th Feb.
Research and planning: by the end of Sunday 18th Decmeber. Whatever is there when I start marking at 9 on Monday morning is what will be marked. There won't be a media lesson on the last day of term.
Draft music video: 27th January. Better get filming soon!
Final music video 10th Feb.
Excellent blog
A really good blog here, to help you see how it's done
http://millymorris1993.blogspot.com/
http://millymorris1993.blogspot.com/
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