Why plan?

Unit 4 Critical Perspectives in Media

 Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production Question 1 A.Requires students to describe and evaluate their skills development over

the course of their production work, from Foundation to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development.

 

The questions will require them to adapt it to one or two of these production areas: - Digital Technology- Creativity  (this will come up with one other area)- Research and Planning- Post-Production- Using conventions from real media texts

Research and planning:

What similar products have you researched in

the two years (conventions/theory)?•In preparation for your

Thriller Opening?•In preparation for your

Music Video?

List areas of individual planning:

Eg.Scripting/Storyboarding/Shotlists

Target audience research – feedback/pitch etc.

Research into unsigned artists

Types of researchPrimary Research:

• collected for a particular purpose and is new information.

• conducted using some means of questioning usually via a survey or interviews

• information gathered through observation.

Secondary research

• information which has already been collected by someone else (eg Goodwin’s theory)

EG. - information downloaded from the internet

- trend data or reports on topics/ theorist’s principals / comments on theories or conventions / text book material

What type of research did you do? Be specific.

Qualitative Quantitative Primary Research

Secondary Research

Thriller Opening

Music Video

What type of planning did you do? Be specific.

Planning covered

How I showed this on my blog?

What the planning enabled me to understand

Thriller Opening

Music Video

Areas of planning and research• Similar products: textual analysis of music videos/thrillers/CD

covers/Magazine adverts/websites

• Investigating theory: Goodwin’s?

• Understanding conventions: Thriller? Music Video?

• Flat planning / Storyboarding / Shotlists?

• Investigating narrative: Music video (3 types) Thriller (Hitchcocks)

• Finding an unsigned artist – methods used?

• Discussion of audience expectations: researching target audience (creating a niche etc?) focus group feedback from film pitch? Showcasing feedback?

• Updating plans – making an account of decisions and revisions made? Filming diary. Shooting schedule.

• Location shots – checking lighting, selecting mise-en-scene, practicalities

• Annotation of.. Similar texts, lyrics (Goodwin’s principals)

• ETC….

In the exam…

• Step 1: explain..

(a) what research and planning you did

(b) how you did it

• Step 2: analyse the benefits of researching and planning the way you did. What it enabled you to understand.

Analysing planning and research

1. What advantages do blogs have over 'paper planning'?

2. Are there any disadvantages to using blogs? Are they easy to 'read'? To access?

3. What are the pros and cons of getting peer feedback?

4. Did I find getting qualitative or quantitative information most useful?

5. How useful are storyboards and shotlists?

6. How important is research into audience experiences and expectations?

What did your research enable you to understand?

The primary research I conducted included a film screening (showcasing) where I was able to analyse the qualitative results of a questionnaire I gave to a focus group. This enabled me to understand exactly how my target audience interpreted my ideas. For example, comments included how the use of ‘light’ as a theme in my thriller seemed to suggest positive connotations of ‘glory’ and ‘hope’ which did not fit the genre and ideology of my film.

In using this qualitative data, I was able to edit my film so as not to emphasise the ‘light’ in the opening narrative, and instead used lamps as image motifs to create shadows and darkness which suggested a more ominous atmosphere rather than emphasising the light they created.

What did your planning enable you to understand?

Planning the ancillary website for my music video was crucial as it involved understanding the conventions of web design and the principals to follow if I was to appeal to my target audience. I therefore made a sketch of where I was going to position text and images to include tabs as links to the various pages to the site. I changed my mind as to what I would include in the scrolling text on the site, and therefore in my flat plan, I featured 4 different options to give me that flexibility.

I wanted to include image motives in ‘roll-overs’ which enabled the audience to understand quickly the ideology and brand of the band and so planning allowed me to see where these would fit within the body of the site. I quickly realised from my flatplan that my site was leaning more towards the ‘visual clutter’ and I wanted to maintain a lot of white space, therefore I ….

Homework

• To post your answers in 5 (A) – (E) paragraphs on your blog explaining the planning and research you did and analyse what it enabled you to understand

For next lesson

(print outs are accepted and marked by me)