A2 Advanced Portfolio

To be completed by 9th of January - we will be looking again at all of these P3/4 on Wednesday the 9th of January

Main Product - picture and sound edit with titles (even if rough)
Ancillary Products 1 and 2
(in at least a decent draft form)
All must attempt to obey the conventions of the form

From our assessment week earlier in December it was very clear that the ancillary products were under developed and needed a lot of work. I have seen some groups making progress but others not working quickly or efficiently enough.

Main products: some in good shape others still requiring considerable work and even additional shooting.

Time in class for practical work will be heavily reduced from January onwards as we prepare for the mocks and for the real exam. You will also be preparing your evaluations which can only be done once you have completed the main and ancillary products

The grade I will be submitting for you in January will be based on the work levels I have seen this last term and the work you achieve between now and then. Please use your time well.

You may get in contact with me from the 3rd of January by email if you need to discuss any of the above.

AS Foundation Portfolio

Here is a breakdown of the tasks which each group need to complete between now and the 10th of January when your initial development period is finished.

Script
A screenplay for your film opening which is in screenplay format and written appropriately. It must include:

• a plan for where titles might appear - use industry standard order for these
• a suggestion of how it will look, sound and feel to watch
• minimal dialogue - tell the story in images and with sound if you can
• no more than 4 pages in length (to allow for cuts)

You may show progressive drafts.

Schedule

A rough schedule for pre-production and production with all roles clearly defined for each member of the group. Including:

• casting
• design priorities
• shot-listing and storyboards
• title design
• shooting schedule

Design

Stills for the locations, or ideal locations for your film. Drawings, plans, suggestions for props and costume, special effects etc. Titles research and design - go to the Art of the Tiltle and analyse a title sequence or two.

Character breakdown and potential casting

• Breakdowns of each character, their back story etc.
• Suggestions for who might be good casting and why?
• method of casting: how are you going to cast your film?
• schedule for casting

Please make sure all members of your group are aware of what you need to do.

MEDIA MAGAZINE COMPETITION

Competition link

Follow the link above to find out more.

If your film opening is finished in time for the deadline you should enter - there are prizes and prestige at stake.

AS GROUPS

Group 1
Seizures

• Keri
• Alice
• Kia
• Lacey

Group 2
Bite Me

• Sci
• Manisha
• Harpreet
• Charley

Group 3
The Tale of the Vampire

• Tarryn
• Ellie
• Chanelle
• Farhana

Group 4
Incurable

• Palwasha
• Kiran
• Zohal
• Simran

Group 5
Abandoned Camp

• Sheida
• Humaira
• Rafia
• Muna

unplaced - Chloe due to repeated absence

Work Due

For all AS students

Please ensure that your 500 word analysis of the representation of gender and sexuality in the Vampire TV Show of your choice is completed for collection by Ms. Cox on Tuesday.

For the AS Students that did not attend the media conference

By the end of tomorrow (Friday) ensure that you have posted your finished Textual Analysis of a Vampire film opening and the screenplay/breakdown of the first minute of your opening sequence on the blog of the students whose initial idea it was. So these will be expected on Kiran, Palwasha, Ellie, Sci & Keri's blogs.

As explained these will be key parts of your portfolio and show clear evidence of research.

This is not considered homework as it is work that should have been finished in class.

For the students who did not get the chance to fully complete their animatic storyboard, including the addition of sound, this will need to be completed next week.

TV Drama Representation & The Televisual Vampire

AS - THIS WEEK, HW and SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT

THIS WEEK

For those of you who are not going on the trip this week your lesson will be a creative one which will give you the chance to develop your two or more of the chosen script ideas through practical means. 

Attendance is NOT optional. 

Below are the decision we made on Thursday regarding the script ideas and you all need to ensure that HW is completed. 

SOME WORK STILL REMAINS UNPUBLISHED. Scripts

MEDIA CONFERENCE TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS

THIS LETTER WILL COME OUT TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE GOING ON THE TRIP TODAY - TUESDAY 11TH DECEMBER

3^rd Dec 2012

Dear Parent / Carer

Media Studies – Media Conference

We have planned a trip to the Media Magazine Conference on Thursday the 13^th of December for Media Studies A level students

The trip will be to The Institute of Education 10 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL from 10am till 3.30pm. Students will benefit from a full range of speakers and activities which should be of enormous value to their AS or A2 courses.

We will be leaving the school at 8.45am and taking public transport. Students are expected to pay their own transport to and from the venue and should also take a pack lunch. If they are eligible for free school meals then they can arrange a pack lunch from the canteen the day before.

A map with details is available on line and the contact details of the venue and of the accompanying teacher will be given to all students.

Yours faithfully

Mr Holloway

Head of Media

This letter will come out to all students going on the trip

View Larger Map

A2 Monday 3rd Dec

Focus for the lesson.

Continuing to develop ancillary products and ensuring that examples of these are posted onto the blog by the end of P7.

Please ensure that you have emailed me the relevant information regarding your Advanced Portfolio site so that I can look at your work online.

Check through the presentation from last week and remember that the deadline for completion of practical work is the Wednesday the 19th of December.

MEDIA CONFERENCE

Money is due for this from Rebecca, Josh, Rana, Hodo - please make sure that you pay the finance office £20 ASAP.

AS Media Script Development

Script Development

AS WOMEN IN HORROR

SOURCE MATERIAL WORTH READING BUT WHICH MUST NOT BE COPIED OR PLAGIARISED.

Forbes
Halloween II


The issue of plagiarism has arisen and you should know that if you present work as your own which is actually copied from another source you are risking your place on the course.

As a school we take plagiarism extremely seriously and while we cannot and do not spot everything we do check periodically and it is generally really obvious that a student has used vocabulary, sentence construction and concepts which are out of character.

Therefore, I would encourage you to read widely but NEVER copy and paste from your sources. If you do and we find this out, we will make copies as evidence, call your parents in for a meeting and you may be asked to leave the course and even the school as a consequence.

If any of you think you may be in this situation please remedy it ASAP by re-writing your HW before Thursday's lessons.

A2 ancillary products and course update

Monday's lessons

In today's lessons in The Heart you objective will be to complete a detailed mock up of one of your ancillary products to a point where it can be posted on your blog. your homework has been to repeated for this so it is vital that you bring with you or have available in some digital form all materials you need to complete this task.

In addition, please bring your diaries/journals as to will be making appointments to see me on parents evening with your parents. If you or they do not come, you will be asked to come in with them on another occasion perhaps less convenient.

On your blogs

Ensure that you have published a schedule for completion of the post production for your main product and two ancillary products. These should be completed by the 20th of December as I will be looking at them and giving levels over the winter break. Please be aware that the levels generated will form the basis of your projected grade in the spring reports and of course your current approach to your work has a direct bearing on the grade I will be predicting for UCAS.

Advanced Portfolio

As you all know and I'm sure are more than aware of the AP is presented digitally and excellence in this presentation is vital for a high level at A2. Once you have completed your main and ancillary products you will be completing your evaluations and I will be looking for sophisticated use of technology and innovation in your presentation. You will struggle to gain the highest marks without this.

In other words, writing your evaluation and reading out while illustrating it with moving or still images will not be enough. Please been thinking now how you can challenge the form, develop and apply new ways of using the skills you have and the technology we have available to enhance this. Web or blog The choice is there for you to make and make it you must. Some of you have already made the choice and started t build your AP site or blog. Please make sure that I have access to this and that you are covering all the relevant areas.

These are:

• Research 
• Development 
• Planing 
• Preproduction 
• Productions 
• Post-production 
• Evaluation

Remember that you must consider how your products fit into the genre and form you have chosen, how they work in historical, social, economic and perhaps political terms. Think about how they subvert or develop the conventions of the genre and form. Make sure that you are documenting the processes including the use of technology, the problems encountered and the hurdles overcome.

Viva 

During December, I will be running vivas with all of you. This is an oral test of your knowledge and understanding of what you have been doing this term and will contribute to my grading of your work. We will film theses orals and you may be able to use this as a part of your process of evaluation. As you can see, a lot of work must be completed in the next four weeks and I therefore expect to see a lot more of you in C1 or online on your logs than I have of late.

AS Vampires

Please find the embed of The Hunger below and the presentation from today's lesson with the HWs you need to complete for next week. I will be looking at the work you have already completed over the weekend so ensure that it is there on your blog. Research Interview 2

A2 Advanced Portfolio

Homework

Next Monday you will be working on your ancillary products in the Heart NOT your edits.

It is therefore essential that you have with you prepared in advance your TWO mock ups for Ancillary 1 and 2.

Please have versions of these on your blogs and/or in books and be prepared to use the time to work on these exclusively.

Remember the expectation is that you will be doing 4-5 hours per week on Media homework and this is not optional but a requirement.

Areas you can do from home:

• research and development related to your briefs
• design using the student login to the virtual desktop where there is access to photoshop etc.
• blog and website work
• additional filming by arrangement

In C1

• editing, filming and post production

AS HOMEWORK

• Ensure that:
• Director research is completed - notes on 3 directors, their work, genres, style, awards etc.
• 3 movie openings are analysed - new focus on European Horror - you may use Let The RIght One In as one of the three.
• Write 500 words on the representation of young women in horror films. You must research this first and you must provide clear examples from horror texts. Remember the analysis of representation must be made through media forms.

Advanced Portfolio Conventions Examples

Short Film Playlist

 


 Music Videos Playlist




Student Music Video 1

Student Music Video 2

Student Music Video 3


Teaser Trailer Playlist

MEDIA CONFERENCE TRIP 13TH DEC

Final deadline for informing me about whether you want to go on the trip is today. You MUST let me know if you want to go by 1pm on Wednesday the 14th Novemebr, as I will be calling the organisers and confirming the numbers after this time and before 5pm.

If you are unable to confirm, then we may be able to get more tickets after this date but you run the risk of not getting one.

The trip will only run in 10 or more students sign up.

A2 students

Today's lessons require you to bring in any and all camera equipment and footage which you may have on a disk at home. It is essential that all footage is saved onto the school server. You will be editing your work but also preparing other elements of your portfolio.We will be looking at some exemplar and seeing how you can improve on what you are currently doing.

AS students

Tomorrow (Thursday's lesson) will be focussed on further development of your filming skills, examination of some film openings and beginning preparation for your Foundation Portfolio. We will be beginning research into genre, narrative and ideology as well as looking at audience and representations.

Film Style Lesson

La Belle et La Bete (1946) [Mise-en-scene Example]

 

 

 

 Children of Men (2006) [Cinematography example]

 

 

 

Apocalypse Now (1979) [Sound Example] 

 

 

 

Step Up Revolution (2012) [Editing example]

 

Film Style PDF

50 kisses short films

50 Kisses

A2 EVALUATION

Evaluation Questions (20 MARKS)

In the evaluation the following four questions must be addressed:

 In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

 How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

 What have you learned from your audience feedback?

 How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Use these questions as a starting point for your own evaluations and the interview you will film today.

Think about how you would answer then now and how you will need to answer them in January when this part of the coursework will be completed.

As you see from the questions, there is a presumption that all work is completed and we all know it hasn't been yet. SO what actions do you have to take to be able to answer these questions in detail?

A2 - Production Start

Today is the first day of your production fortnight.

Are you ready?

• permission slip signed
• all locations secured
• casting complete
• storyboard and shot list
• risk assessment
• schedule for your shoot
• equipment list
• props and costumes

If you you do not have the above your are not ready for the shoot but could be by the end of these four lessons depending on what you do with your time.

Focus

Focus on what is most important and complete this without distraction

Testing

If you are at the testing stage for equipment, shots, lighting - see me and we will arrange that

Script

Must be secure for you go into the shoot or you will FAIL

Storyboard

Highly recommended

Schedule including all locations

Must be completed before you are given access to equipment

Casting

Again, little point in beginning your shoot before you have a cast in place

A2 Media Studies - PRODUCTION

The beginning of your shoot.

• Complete review of all evidence of planning and preparations
• Receipt of all permission slips before issue of cameras - depending on requirements

Vivas to discuss progress and actions

1.50pm    Jessica

2.00pm    Hodo and Rana

2.10pm    Valeriya and Josh

2.20pm    Yasmin / Habiba

2.30pm    Rebecca and Lauren

From 2.40-3.20 - complete any preparations in advance of equipment issue before 3.10pm.

AS MEDIA STUDIES ASSESSMENTS

From a look at your blogs on Tuesday at 16.48pm I notice that 9 of you have not completed the October assessment on the opening of City of God. This must be completed and posted on your blog ASAP and before Thursday's lessons, if you are not to trigger a letter home and Prep.

Please note that any evidence of plagiarism will be treated very seriously, you should not be tempted to copy anyone  else's work and if caught doing this the consequences are dire - be warned.

All work posted by the the date an time above has been saved and filed for marking and evidence of your progress.

I also note that not everyone has completed the other tasks set for homework, please makes sure this happens asap and before Thursday as we will be working on your scripts then.

A2 Team meetings

Order of team meetings

For these meetings you will need to have available all documents relating to your project. Before and after meetings you will continue with the preparations and by the end of the class show evidence of this progression.

1.45 - 1.55     Rebecca and Lauren

1.55 - 2.05     Habiba

2.05 - 2.15     Yasmin

2.15 - 2.25     Hodo and Rana

2.25 - 2.35     Valeriya and Josh

2.35 - 2.45     Jessica

Documents for discussion should be up on your blog, in your folders and available to scrutinise.

Point of discussion:

To assess progress towards filming and readiness to begin production next week

AS week beginning 8th Oct

I notice from your blogs that not everyone has uploaded their City of God essay. It is vital that this is done by Sun evening (well past the deadline) as this essay forms the major part of my early assessment of your work. Failure to submit will trigger a letter home, prep and may threaten your position on the course.

This week.

Homework 1

I hope you all enjoyed the experiences you had yesterday.

a) Following on from the first session which allowed you to explore representations of teens and apply this to creating a DVD cover. Please write a reflection on what you learned during this lesson in a blog post by next Thursday.

The second lesson was focussed very relevantly on what you are preparing for at this moment - your preliminary exercises. These will be filmed and edited over the next two weeks on Thursday with the aim of having completed them soon after half term. 

b) Again, as preparation for next week please reflect on the lesson and what you learned especially your developing understanding of editing for continuity, the 30% and 180% rules and the importance of action cuts. Agin post by next Thursday.

Both these posts will form evidence which you can use as part of your Foundation Portfolio and will therefore contribute towards your overall AS grade.

Homework 2

Read and review the short scripts prepared for Homework last week by other students. Read and comment on at least two while ensuring that you have posted one of your own. We will be working with these on Thursday. 

Incomplete work will trigger Prep.

A2 Wednesday

Tasks for today.

• Return to the four evaluation questions and re-answer them with reference to your research and use these questions to develop your productions.

Complete the tasks set for Monday and review preparations for your shoot which will start on the 22nd of October. The main areas for you to work on are below.

• Completed scripts, storyboards, schedules, call sheets
• Drafts for ancillary products and plan for completion of those product

In detail:

• A schedule of what you want to shoot, when you want to shoot and where you want to shoot. Check out the dependent films website for useful forms.
• An exhaustive list of props, costumes, equipment.
• A cast list and plan for casting

P3 & 4

• A scene by scene/shot by shot breakdown of your film/trailer/music video - written
• An animatic of your production using Kodak cameras and iMacs in Heart.

All work MUST be published. I wil pop in during the morning to see how things are going.

A2 Monday's Class

Today's lessons in Heart ICT suite. Complete all tasks.

1. Embed (or link) Prezi presentations on representation of black people in your specific media focus on your blogs.
2. Post any outstanding essays: teen reps, disability reps.
3. All teams/individuals: ensure that all scripts are completed, all storyboards refined (specific shot choices, sound design, mise ens scene) and a draft schedule made for the week of the 22nd October and the half term week - look on Dependent films website for examples of schedules and call sheets. 
4. All teams/individuals: ancillary products. A mock-up of one ancillary product made (in digital form) and posted. Early designs for second ancillary product.
5. All teams/individuals: ensure that you have created a weekly or new blog for your Advanced Portfolio and email me the link.
6. Extension: designs for sets, location stills, props lists, costume designs, 

Your October assessment will be based on what you have presented on your blogs. Prep will be given for incomplete or inadequate work.

AS ASSESSMENT WEEK

AS media w4 FP

Please ensure that you have all completed the essay on the opening of City of God by next Thursday. Those of you who missed the class please watch the link below and do your best.

A2 HOME STUDY FOR WEEK 4

It is vital that you are all up to date with your work on the blog by Wednesday am. Please ensure that you are prepared with storyboards, scripts, schedules and detailed breakdowns as per last week's Homework. We will be using this in class.

You also need to ensure that your essays are completed and that I have either your book OR that they are uploaded to the blog. As some of you have been put into Prep already you are aware of how vital it is to stay on top of your studies.

This weeks G325 task is to research the representation of black people in media especially young black men.

I would like this research presented in the form of a PREZI with short video clips embedded, images, quotations and analysis.

Here are your individual research areas:

How are black people - especially young black men represented in/by:

• Rebecca - Newspapers and online news (current and recent)
• Lauren - Music videos (all genres - with some history)
• Hodo - UK Movies (all genres)
• Rana - Advertising (TV ads, wed ads, posters, magazine ads)
• Josh - UK TV (focus on drama)
• Yasmin - US movies (romance/comedy/musical - with some history)
• Habiba - US movies (drama/crime/action - with some history)
• Jessica - UK TV (focus of documentary, reality etc.)
• Valeriya - International Movies (especially from Europe, African countries and middle east)

What is being tested is your ability to find good source material and explore how meaning is created.

Examples:

Please see below a presentation made by a previous A2 class whose focus was the representation of teenagers in US movies.

Cinema of the United States (Edel)

A2 - short film made on iPhone

Watch the film below. Think about the construction of the film, narrative and how the camera has been used. This was shot on an iPhone!

Bamboozled - Spike Lee

The above embedded film (removed) is very controversial but well worth watching when considering the representation of black people, in particular black men, in America and is deeply satirical as well as hilarious. Be warned though it can offend and does use the 'N' and 'F' words frequently. The film is made by Spike Lee the pre-eminent black FIlm maker in the US who also participated in an episode of Who do you think you are? This is the stimulus for today's exploration of Representation and Cultural Identity with reference to black History month. The essay you will write will be explorative and focussed on the representations of black men in the media.

AS Media SEMIOTICS

HW

Semiotics

• Revise terminology of semiotics.

Pre-liminary exercise

• Plan for Preliminary exercise by writing a short script in a genre of your choice, which involves someone coming through a door, two people having a conversation in which the 180 degree rule is observed.
• Storyboard this exercise

Rules

• 5 lines of dialogue only
• Must be no more than 2 minutes when edited
• No more than 4 characters
• Any genre
• Must have signifiers and create meaning
• Must have a narrative and characterisation

Opening sequences

• Find one of your favourites, embed and analyse using semiotic language

A2 Collective Identity - Teens

Collective Identity L2 Teen How Do the Dominant Representations of Teenagers Reflect the Collective Identity Complete essay for HW for Monday 1st October.

AS Lessons Thursday 20th September

AS media L2 FP

A2 Monday's lesson

Ensure that you have completed the G324 tasks set by the dates required. In order to meet the production schedule of 22nd October start you will need to work fast and in a focussed way. The G325 essay is due Wednesday and it is essential that you have completed it or you will be put into prep. The links to the question and resources are all there fore you. Please refer back to previous posts for other deatils. Rana, though you missed last weeks lessons, I still expect something from you. A2 Media - L2 G324 Production

Media Magazine login & Media Edusites

Media Magazine login

YOu will find above that a new pages has appeared, if you click on it it will take your straight to Media Magazine where you can login.

Username - mediamagazine10
Password - ly957mp

You will need to write this login down TODAY because I will be removing it from the blog for security reasons.

In addition, you will receive an individual login to the Media Edusite too, this will also support your studies and provide invaluable information which you can use.  AGain you can click on the page above to go to the site directly.

AS MEDIA STUDIES - WELCOME

Today

Learning the ropes of media.

Setting up your blogs
Joining edmodo
Understanding the course
getting to know each other
audit of skills







Homework due next Thursday

Complete analysis of Children of Men opening if not completed
Find another opening sequence to a movie of your own choice (must be appropriate to your age) embed in your blog and write an anlysis of the mise en scene, camera, sound and editing. How do these techniques reveal the narrative and target a specific audience.

New Term - Beginning of A2 course

Welcome back.

Here is a brief run down of what we will be doing this year though as you know detail regarding this is on other pages of the BLOG.

• Autumn 1:
• G324 Research, development, planning and production of ADVANCED PORTFOLIO main product
• G325 Media and Collective Identity for exam - concepts and theory, research techniques, essay practice
• Autumn 2:
• G324 Complete production, post production of main product and prepare ancilliary products 1 & 2 draft and final versions
• G325 Media and Collective Identity for exam - independent reserach project and presentation
• Spring 1:
• G324 Complete all products for ADVANCED PORTFOLIO. Make creative evaluations of AP.
• G325 2nd independent research project AND/OR Contemporary Media Regulation
• Spring 2:
• Exam testing and revision course
• AP snagging
• Vivas
• Summer 1:
• Exam final preparation

The point as you can see is that the AP is completed early allowing more time for exams preparation. This loading of the beginning of the year is to ensure that you are working with the necessary intensity from the start.

TODAY'S LESSON



Collective Identity L1 Dis

Some links to use

OCR exam paper
Exemplar essay (look for June 2010 G325 section B CI)
BBC Ouch
BBC report by Peter White
BBC Paralympics - Seize the moment
4OD paralympics



Theory

A2 Media eBook
Stuart Hall - Cultural Theorist

FINAL WEEK

Lessons as usual on Tuesday.

I am expecting that you will have completed more and be clearer about what your project will be.

In the lesson we will have tutorials to discuss your project in detail and define your summer preparations, objectives and intentions and also working practically with the equipment to define your needs.

Please complete as much preparation before the lesson and have with you all the details you currently have about your idea. Be warned, if I am not satisfied that you have given this enough thought I may ask you to reconsider and even give you a defined brief which I know I can support and which can guarantee a decent grade.

No attendance and failure to prepare will be noted and may well have a negative effect on your progress and attainment.

TUESDAY 10TH JULY

TUESDAY'S lesson WILL take place as usual. It is vital that you are all there as there will be limited opportunities before the end of term to review where you are in your planning and research processes and to establish what you need to do next. Please ensure that you have completed as much as possible of the task set last week which you were working on on Friday - those of you who were in class.

SUMMER PROJECT

All of you will need to continue to work on your ADVANCED PORTFOLIO over the summer and the expectation will be that you have made significant progress by September. To this end we will be discussing what you should be aiming for, what is realistic and how you can prepare practically, technically and theoretically for the Autumn's term of creative work.

AREAS TO PREPARE

1. Confirming your choice of project and completing a set of planning and preparation tasks related to your choice.
2. Setting up a website for your project using one of the website builders suggested.
3. Researching your brief area in detail - analysing a broad range of products which directly relate to your form (music video, short film etc.) and genre.
4. Completing the first stage of development of script, storyboard, mood board and design for your products.
5. Creating a schedule for production and post production with completion end of December. 
6. Creating an equipment list for cameras, lighting, special effects, design, costume, make-up
7. Creating a cast and crew list: how many cast members? which crew jobs need to be covered by whom?

Currently these are the choices you have made:

Muna - travelogue documentary
Aisha and Yasmin  - movie trailer (joint project)
Habiba - short film
Josh - short film
Rebecca and Lauren - music video (joint project)
Jessica - music video
Ellie - short film

Uncertain due to absence:

Valeriya - short film?
Hodo - short film?
Rana - short film?

This makes for a great range of projects. In practical terms, those of you who are working individually should consider the potential benefits of working with someone else as there is a great deal to do if you work alone and you will ALL need some help. The exception is possible Muna, whose travelogue project will be shot while abroad this summer and who for practical reasons due to the nature of such a project may well be able to complete it alone.

You can work in groups up to a maximum of four people BUT each MUST be able to demonstrate clearly what they have contributed to all areas of research, development, preparation, planning, production and evaluation in order to justify their mark.