Skills Development Booklet Redraft

8/11/2019 Skills Development Booklet Redraft

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AS and A2

Media Studies

SkillsDevelopment

Booklet


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Key concepts relevant to Media Studies

Representationrefers to the construction in any medium (e.g. film, television, magazines ofaspects of !reality" such as people, places, o#$ects, events, cultural identities and other a#stract

concepts. Such representations may #e in speech or %riting as %ell as still or moving pictures.&hey may include use of stereotypes and %ill often focus around issues like gender, class,ethnicity, age, disa#ility, se'uality and regional or national identity.

Genrecomes from the rench (and originally )atin %ord for *kind* or *class*. &he term is %idelyused in media theory to refer to a distinctive type of !te't". +ontemporary media genres tend torelate to specific forms e.g. films are routinely classified (e.g. in television listings magazines as*thrillers*, *%esterns* and so on genres %ith %hich every adult in modern society is familiar. So too%ith television genres such as *game sho%s* and *sitcoms*. All of these genres %ill haveconventions %hich are e'pected to occur %ithin them e.g. %esterns often end %ith a gun fight,sitcoms tend to have a selfcontained storyline running for the half hour episode.

Narrative,in media terms, is the coherence-organisation given to a series of facts. &ypically, amedia te't %ill have a start, middle and end %ith events unfolding chronologically. &his is kno%n as!linear narrative". A film that plays around %ith this convention, such as &arantino"s !ulp iction"has a !nonlinear narrative". &here are a num#er of theories of narrative. /ne of the mostcele#rated is that of &odorov %ho talks a#out states of e0uili#rium and dise0uili#rium in thenarrative.

Media Language refers to %ritten, ver#al, nonver#al, aural and aesthetic communication andusually a com#ination of these. in television drama, a phone conversation #et%een t%o charactersin different locations can only #e understood #y the audience #ecause of the relationship #et%een

the camera angles (closeups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots sho%ing location conte't,nonver#al performance (facial e'pressions during the phone conversation, dialogue (%hat thet%o characters say, lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere, editing (so that %e can follo%the conversation and so that continuity is correct and sound (#oth diegetic and nondiegetic. 1eoften don"t notice these and come to e'pect certain styles of acting, editing, filming and sound forcertain types of programmes-films. &his allo%s us to !read" the media language as easily as %ecan understand our friends in conversations %ithout having to recall the meaning of every %ord.

Audience is the group of consumers for %hom the media te't %as constructed as %ell as anyoneelse %ho is e'posed to the te't. t is often descri#ed in terms of gender, class, ethnicity and age,particularly %hen referred to as a !target audience".

Creativity or !creative skills" operates on t%o levels3 first, the a#ility to use digital technologies tomake meaning so that the audience can respond easily to the te't and second, the a#ility toengage and interest the audience. &his may #e #y follo%ing conventions or #y challenging them.Media products emerge as a result of hundreds of creative decisions. 1hen you analyse te'ts you%ill %ork out %hat these decisions %ere. 1hen you make them, you %ill account for and evaluatethese decisions from your o%n personal e'perience.

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Reflecting on your AS production work (coursework

At A2 you %ill take an e!a"called !#$eoretical %valuation of &roduction", andans%er a 0uestion on ho% your production skills have developed during the t%oyears of the course. 4ou %ill #e asked to comment on ho% your skills havedeveloped in one or t%o of the follo%ing areas3

'igital tec$nology

Researc$ and &lanning

sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!ts

&ost)&roduction

Creativity

&he pages #elo% %ill help you organise your thoughts on the production %ork %ehave done so far in the course, from the reliminary task 5 the college magazine, tothe main task, the completed music magazine.

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Skills*+ 'G#AL #%C-N.L.G/

Digital technology here refers to #oth hard%are (eg cameras and soft%are (programmes. Ans%erthe follo%ing 0uestions as honestly as possi#le3 the unit asks you to reflect on ho% your skills havedeveloped during the course and is not a test of ho% impressive your skills are. 4ou %ill #ere%arded for reflecting honestly and for ackno%ledging pro#lems and areas for improvement.

Begin #y reflecting on ho% e'perienced a user of digital technology you %ere at the start of thecourse. n the space #elo%, %rite do%n the names of any soft%are or hard%are you used at school(or at home to produce media te'ts. 4ou may not have used any6 f you have, #riefly descri#e%hat you used the technology for (ie image manipulation, desktop pu#lishing

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AS &reli"inary #ask

Cover and Contents &age for a college "aga0ine

Maga0ine Cover+ Ado1e &$otos$opAlthough this %as only a short preliminary task, you have used hotoshop for this task and shouldhave developed your skills sufficiently to #e a#le to produce the front cover of a magazine.

"age "anipulation4ou %ill have used hotoshop to manipulate your central image (s in some %ay, %hetherimporting, cropping, or resizing, for e'ample. /utline #elo% the image manipulation skills usedduring this pro$ect.

have used hotoshop and have developed a num#er of skills including skills such as, cropping,resizing, editing and selecting certain colours. 7sing hotoshop has helped me gain skills andthese skills that have o#tained have helped me create my final magazine cover and contentspage. have used all of the skills listed in the creation of my pieces.

used my skills %hen placing and cropping images to fit to the page and used the magic tool andthe colour select to make the pages appealing and suita#le to the target audience.

#e!t "anipulation4ou should also have used hotoshop to create and manipulate te't on your cover3 changing thesize, colour or position of the fonts you used, for e'ample. /utline #elo% the te't manipulationskills you used during this pro$ect.

%as a#le to manipulate the te't in many %ays, such as adding stokes to make them stand out,making them #older, #righter and more attractive. %as also a#le to make the te't the same colouras a certain colour in an image- the #ackground. %as a#le to make a puff that could place#ehind the te't to create a cover line that stands out and that %ill attract the reader.

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Contents &age+ Ado1e n)'esignor this task you have learnt ho% to use indesign to produce and layout a contents page. &his %illhave involved you developing skills in areas such as structuring the layout of your page using te't

#o'es and arranging te't into columns, and also using the programme to move te't and imagesaround the page.

)ist #elo% the skills you have developed using indesign in terms of page layout and te't andimage manipulation.

have o#tained many skills %hile making my magazine. Some tricks that have learnt a#out pagelayout include the rule of thirds %hen you have the masthead in the top left and have the mainimage (if a person facing the camera at the top, centre of the page looking at the camera. &hismakes the reader feel like they kno% the person on the cover and it makes it feel personal. have also learnt that the strap line must #e at the #ottom of the page %ith the #arcode if it is to

follo% common codes and conventions. 4ou must also have a date line and an issue num#eralthough it must not #e #ig and #old, it has to #e seen #ut not in the %ay.

'igital stills ca"era4ou used the digital stills camera to take your photos for this pro$ect. )ist #elo% any photographicskills you have used in doing this (such as framing, focus etc

1hile using the cameras to shoot my location pictures used various skills to take the perfectphoto, for e'ample find a #ackground that includes multiple things that mention or sho% thecollege setting. Also learnt that if you focus on the main image, the person on the cover, then the#ackground %ill #e #lurred and it %ill add a special effect making the reader concentrate on theperson in the shot.

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Summarise #elo% ho% pleased you are %ith the skills you have developed during this pro$ect. 8o%effectively have they allo%ed you to produce the kind of product you %anted to produce9 1hatfurther skills %ould you like to develop using these programmes9

used my mo#ile phone and a camera to take the pictures, hotoshop to #uild my cover andcontents page, dafont.com helped me find a font that %as suita#le, #logger to upload my %ork andrezi to present my evaluation in a different and more en$oya#le %ay. learnt many skills %hile

doing so and they have ena#led me to create my final piece %hich has taken many hours and have used all of the skills that have learnt and had learnt #efore to use hotoshop, rezi. Bloggerand scri#d.

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AS Main #ask+ Music "aga0ine cover, contents page, dou1le page article2

4our music magazine is the main task you %ill do at AS, and as a result you should have

developed your skills in hotoshop and indesign significantly from the preliminary task. &he0uestions #elo% are designed to help you record and reflect on this.

"agesirst, reflect on your use of the digital stills camera for your photographs. Summarise #elo% ho%your skills in the use of the digital camera have developed from the preliminary task (this refers totaking photos, not i"age "anipulation. &hink a#out miseenscene, framing etc.

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Music Maga0ine Cover+ Ado1e &$otos$opBegin #y looking #ack at the comments you made a#out ho% you used hotoshop for your college

magazine. &hen consider ho% you have developed your skills for this e'ercise.

"age Manipulation+/utline #elo% the new image manipulation skills you have developed during this pro$ect. Say %hatyou used the skills to achieve and ho% pleased you are %ith the results.

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#e!t "anipulation/utline #elo% the ne% skills you have developed during the production of your cover. &hink a#outall of the te't manipulation you might have done, such as shado%ing, etc. Again descri#e %hy youused each techni0ue and ho% pleased you are %ith the results.

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Music "aga0ine+ n'esign

4ou %ill have used nDesign to produce your contents page for your music magazine and also forthe production of your article. 7se the space #elo% to outline and reflect on any ne% skills youhave developed.

Layout+omment on ho% you used indesign to layout your pages, using te't #o'es, columns, etc.

+omment on specific tools you used and on ho% useful you found the programme to #e.

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#e!t+omment on ho% you used nDesign to position and manipulate te't. Descri#e specific techni0uesyou used and evaluate their usefulness for the tasks you %ere set (ie production of contents pagesand article.

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Su""ary+Summary3 8o% useful do you feel nDesign %as in ena#ling you to produce your contents pageand your article9 1ere there any limitations to the programme or skills you %ould still like todevelop9

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Skills3+ Researc$ and &lanning

or #oth your reliminary and Main course%ork tasks, you undertook #oth secondary and primaryresearch. Belo%, you are re0uired to reflect on this, #eginning %ith the reliminary task.

College "aga0ine.Although your college magazine %as a preliminary task, you should have carried out some

research in order to allo% you to complete the task./utline #elo% %hat your research o#$ectives %ere for this task3 ie e'actly %hat it %as that youneeded to find out.

/utline #elo% and discuss the usefulness of the research methods that you used during theproduction of the college magazine.

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1as the research that you carried out sufficient to allo% you to complete the task to a satisfactorystandard9

8o% might you improve your research skills ne't time9

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/utline #elo% the planning tools you used for this task and reflect on their usefulness

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Music Maga0ine.4our main task is a more detailed task and as a result you should have developed and used moreadvanced and sophisticated research skills. 4ou need to outline and reflect on these #elo%.

Audience Researc$Before producing your magazine you %ere re0uired to carry out research into the tastes andinterests of your audience in order to help you produce a magazine that %ould appeal to them.Summarise the aims and o#$ectives of your audience research #elo%3

/utline the research methods you used for audience research (ie 0uestionnaires, focus groups.

/utline the different styles of 0uestioning you employed (ie open-closed and talk a#out thestrengths and %eaknesses of each style.

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8o% did you select your sample9 :eflect on this.

8o% did you present your findings (graphs, etc.9 :eflect on this.

t is important in this unit that you sho% ho% your skills have developed. n %hat %ays do you feelyou could improve your audience research for your ne't piece of production %ork9 Set cleartargets for this.

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#opic Researc$n addition to carrying out audience research you should also have carried out research into theparticular genre or area of music that you made your magazine a#out. /utline and reflect on this#elo%.

Begin #y outlining your research o#$ectives. 1hat e'actly %as it that you %anted to find out9

nternet Researc$2/utline #elo% the %e#sites you used for your research, indicating ho% useful you found each to #eand summarising %hat you found from each site.

8o% did you check the validity and relia#ility of your findings9

)ist and reflect on the usefulness of any other research methods you used for your topic research#elo%.

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t is important in this unit that you sho% ho% your skills have developed. n %hat %ays do you feelyou could improve your topic research for your ne't piece of production %ork9 Set clear targets forthis, eg ;e't time %ill ensure that each fact use %ill have #een cited #y at least 2 sources.

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Skills 4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!ts

All Media genres have set of conventions that the audience e'pect to find in them3 in a Scienceiction film, for e'ample, %e e'pect a certain type of setting plus spaceships, aliens, e'plosions,possi#ly #attles in space. &hese conventions develop, ho%ever, as Media producers challengesome of the traditional conventions of te'ts. n the film !sycho", for e'ample. Alfred 8itchcockunsettled and surprised his audience #y having the character played #y the films main star killedafter


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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!ts

Music Maga0ineBefore starting to produce your music magazine you should have spent time discussing the codesand conventions of the genre in lessons. 4ou should also, individually, have researched e'amplesof the specific kind of music magazine you decided to produce individually. Belo% you shoulddiscuss %hat you found the main codes and conventions of your te't to #e, in terms of style andcontent. 4ou should then reflect on the e'tent to %hich you have follo%ed these codes andconventions and also comment on any codes and conventions that you have not follo%ed or havetried to challenge or su#vert, e'plaining %hy you have done this.5ront Cover7se the grid #elo% to reflect on ho% you have used or developed the codes and conventions ofmusic magazine covers. )ist the main conventions and then comment on ho% you have used

them in your cover 5 eg used 2 !ree offer" splashes on my cover as feel they are important inattracting readers in a competitive market.Conventions+ Content

+onvention +omment

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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!ts

Conventions+ Style

+onvention +omment

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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!ts;o% do the same for your contents pages and for your articleConventions+ Content page content

+onvention +omment

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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!tsConventions+ contents page style

+onvention +omment

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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!tsConventions+ article content

+onvention +omment

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Skills4 sing Conventions fro" real "edia te!tsConventions+ Article style

+onvention +omment

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Skills6 &ost &roductionMusic Maga0ineor your music magazine you should have spent longer on the postproduction stage. Belo% youshould reflect on this.

Audience feed1ack

Briefly summarise %hy it is important to gain audience feed#ack on a production. &o %hat usemight the data #e put9

/utline #elo% the aims and o#$ectives of your audience feed#ack. 1hat information %ere youtrying to o#tain9

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Skills6 &ost &roduction

;o% descri#e the methods you used to gain audience feed#ack on your product (ie0uestionnaires, focus groups. /utline the methods of 0uestioning you used %ithin your0uestionnaires (ie open-closed-restricted choices and reflect honestly on ho% productive thesemethods %ere.

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Skills6 &ost &roduction

Summarise #elo% your findings from your audience feed#ack. 8aving looked at this, ho% do youfeel you could improve the 0uality of audience feed#ack you receive ne't time9 Set clear targets,#ased on your e'perience this time around.

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Skills6 &ost &roduction%valuation/utline #elo% the methods you used to produce an evaluation for this production (ie po%erpointpresentation, essay 8o% useful and appropriate %as this method9

8o% reflective do you feel you %ere in your evaluation9

8o% do you feel you might improve the 0uality of your evaluation for your ne't production9

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Skills7+ Creativity

College Maga0ine8ere you are re0uired to reflect on your creativity during the production tasks you produce on thecourse. &his refers to your a#ility to create original and good 0uality products.

8o% pleased are you %ith the piece you have created for this task9 1hat elements of it are youespecially pleased %ith9

:eflect #elo% on the !creative process" 5 ie ho% you came up %ith your ideas(#rainstorming-looking at e'amples of e'isting practice-drafting.

1hat e0uipment %as especially important in helping you to produce %hat you %anted to produce9

Music "aga0ine

8o% pleased are you %ith the piece you have created for this task9 1hat elements of it are youespecially pleased %ith9

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Skills7+ Creativity

:eflect #elo% on the !creative process" 5 ie ho% you came up %ith your ideas(#rainstorming-looking at e'amples of e'isting practice-drafting. &his may #e an assessment ofho% you organised the photography, ho% you used the photographs, ho% you organised yourlayouts, the language you used, the %ay you dre% attention to certain elements etc

1hat e0uipment %as especially important in helping you to produce %hat you %anted to produce9

Skills Development Booklet Redraft

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