Evaluation of your Practical Workfor G325

Section AQ1a (25 marks)

Discussing your development from AS to A2

A2 Exam Preparation

Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.

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

Typical questions

In this question you will be asked to discuss both your AS and your A2

productions in relation to one or two of the following issues

• Digital Technology• Creativity• Research & Planning• Post Production• Using conventions of real media texts

You only have half an hour for the question and you really need to make the most of that time by quickly moving from…

description (so the reader knows what you did) to analysis/evaluation/reflection, so the reader starts to understand what you learnt from it.

Examiner’s Advice

You need some practice - this is very hard to do without it!

Write an essay on each of the areas, or at the very least do a detailed plan with lots of examples. The fact that it is a 30 minute essay makes it very unusual, so you need to be able to tailor your writing to that length - a tough task!

Examiner’s Advice

Examiner’s Advice

• Strong answers have a range of specific examples.• Weaker answers are descriptive.• Technical and conceptual terminology needed• Evaluation and critical reflection on your work

is needed.• There needs to be a sense of progression over

your A Level “journey”.

Examiner’s Checklist

• Creative decision making • Process • Progress over time • Specific examples • Reflection on own development

Is it about the Candidate?

Does the essay show…

To do wellExample from the mark scheme …

To do well

• Progression• Reflection• Specific examples in relation to outcomes• Terminology

Paragraph 1 An introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short.

Paragraph 2 Pick up the skill area and suggest something about your starting point with it- what skills did you have already and how were these illustrated. Use examples example.

Paragraph 3 Talk through your use of that skill in early projects ,what you learned and developed through these. Again use examples to support what you say.

Paragraph 4 Go on to demonstrate how the skill developed in later projects, backed by examples, and reflect how this represents a positive development for you

Paragraph 5 Short conclusion

Planning Your Essay

Example - Effect - Progress

Example from an essay…

Example - Effect - Progress

exam

ple

effect

progress

Planning Your EssayUse this chart (handout) to practise planning essays

Digital Technology

Digital Technology• What software was used• What hardware/equipment was used• What were the technical pros and cons• How did technology enhance/restrict your

work Discuss all stages of the process:

Pre-productionProductionPost-production

Digital Technology

Give real examples to illustrate your points:

“Before this course I had not used any blogging software and found WordPress difficult to use. But by the time I had finishedmy A2 coursework, having used the program to prepare both my portfolios, I found it much easier to organise and present my work.”

Digital Technology“We used the Sony Vegas non-linear editing package in post-production. Our first experience of this was editing our 180 degree exercises at AS . I found it a steep learning curve but by the time I came to edit my final A2 film I had learnt how to use it proficiently and found it essential for my animatic in pre-production as well as preparing video clips for my evaluation where I used it to prepare picture in picture effects to present scenes from my film, as well as capture stills which I used through out my blog”

Digital Technology & Creativity

“Using a digital video camera enabled us to quickly review our shots while filming and efficiently re-shoot if we were unhappy about the quality. It was also very easy to transfer the work to my computer back in class for post-production using Sony Vegas to edit and apply transitions and graphics. The non-linear process enabled me to try out different narrative structures and compare the results before settling on a final approach.”

Digital Technology & Creativity

“We learnt early on in AS how important sound is to a film and how adding and mixing a multi-layerd sound track really improves the work. Using a small digital recorder I was able to capture an atmospheric background track on location, (birdsong, traffic, etc. ) which I used to “smooth over” glitches in my soundtrack and help disguise my cuts. I was really pleased with final, professional result that this gave my film.”

Digital Technology & Creativity

“Because my film was a romance I wanted the overall look of it to be in soft, pastel colours. When I had put together my final rough cut of the film I used Sony Vegas to slightly de-saturate and soften the shots. In some places, for instance when my two protagonists kiss, I also softened the picture by adding the appropriate special effect.”

Digital Technology & Research

“Using the internet, particularly Google and YouTube, I was easily able to research real media texts to investigate the generic conventions of trailers. Many real trailers can be found on YouTube and by deconstructing and analysing them I was able to work out the best way to make mine. Social media, YouTube and Facebook, enabled me to carry out audience research when I had finished my film. I also uploaded two different versions of it to my smartphone during post-production so that I could survey friend’s opinions of how I should end it.”

Use real examples• Remember to always include real examples

of what you have done in your work to illustrateyour points.

• Try to avoid making general statements

• Be specific. Give examples of real texts youresearched, real comments you got from your audience, real things you learnt or did, etc.

Maximise your marksTo get a higher grade you need to ensure that you are not just describing how your skills developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

• How important was digital technology• Why was it important• What effect did it have on your work• What couldn’t you have done without it • How did you benefit from it?

Digital Technology Exercise

List each piece of technology you have used and then something specific from your work that did with it.

Creativity

CreativityWhat is creativity?

• The making of new things or re-arranging the old

• The ability to have your own ideas rather than copy others

• The ability to do things that are unusual and different

CreativityThink about…Where did your original ideas come from?

• Brainstorming?• Mind Maps?• Research on the web?• Special software?• Newspaper stories?

CreativityThink about…Where did your original ideas come from?

• Brainstorming?• Mind Maps?• Research on the web?• Special software?• Newspaper stories?

CreativityYou may have been creative with…

• Locations/sets/costumes• Camera• Editing• Genre/conventions• Casting• Technology (see handout for ideas)

CreativityAlso consider these points:

• Restrictions of the briefs limited creativity

• Can’t be creative without first doing practical things like research and planning

• You have to be confident in your skills before you can develop creative ideas

Maximise your marksTo get a higher grade you need to ensure that you are not just describing how your skills developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

• How important was creativity• Why was it important• What effect did it have on your work• What couldn’t you have done without it • How did you benefit from it?

Creativity Exercise

Write short notes in this formAt AS I was creative coming up with ideas by ….. This helped me because…

At A2 I was more creative coming up with ideas by ….. This helped me because…

More to follow…

look at revision PowerPoint on the A2 blog for more now