AS and A2 Media Studies

Michael Mound AS Column D (Teacher: Louise)

Skills Development Booklet

Key concepts relevant to Media Studies
Representation refers to the construction in any medium (e.g. film, television, magazines) of aspects of reality such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures. They may include use of stereotypes and will often focus around issues like gender, class, ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality and regional or national identity. Genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class'. The term is widely used in media theory to refer to a distinctive type of text. Contemporary media genres tend to relate to specific forms e.g. films are routinely classified (e.g. in television listings magazines) as 'thrillers', 'westerns' and so on - genres with which every adult in modern society is familiar. So too with television genres such as 'game shows' and 'sitcoms'. All of these genres will have conventions which are expected to occur within them e.g. westerns often end with a gun fight, sitcoms tend to have a self-contained storyline running for the half hour episode. Narrative, in media terms, is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. Typically, a media text will have a start, middle and end with events unfolding chronologically. This is known as linear narrative. A film that plays around with this convention, such as Tarantinos Pulp Fiction has a non-linear narrative. There are a number of theories of narrative. One of the most celebrated is that of Todorov who talks about states of equilibrium and disequilibrium in the narrative. Media Language refers to written, verbal, non-verbal, aural and aesthetic communication and usually a combination of these. in television drama, a phone conversation between two characters in different locations can only be understood by the audience because of the relationship between the camera angles (close-ups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context), non-verbal performance (facial expressions during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the two characters say), lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow the conversation and so that continuity is correct) and sound (both diegetic and non-diegetic). We often dont notice these and come to expect certain styles of acting, editing, filming and sound for certain types of programmes/films. This allows us to read the media language as easily as we can understand our friends in conversations without having to recall the meaning of every word. 2

Audience is the group of consumers for whom the media text was constructed as well as anyone else who is exposed to the text. It is often described in terms of gender, class, ethnicity and age, particularly when referred to as a target audience. Creativity or creative skills operates on two levels: first, the ability to use digital technologies to make meaning so that the audience can respond easily to the text and second, the ability to engage and interest the audience. This may be by following conventions or by challenging them. Media products emerge as a result of hundreds of creative decisions. When you analyse texts you will work out what these decisions were. When you make them, you will account for and evaluate these decisions from your own personal experience.

Reflecting on your AS production work (coursework) At A2 you will take an exam called Theoretical Evaluation of Production, and answer a question on how your production skills have developed during the two years of the course. You will be asked to comment on how your skills have developed in one or two of the following areas: Digital technology Research and Planning Using Conventions from real media texts Post-Production Creativity

The pages below will help you organise your thoughts on the production work we have done so far in the course, from the Preliminary task the college magazine, to the main task, the completed music magazine.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AS Preliminary Task Cover and Contents Page for a college magazine
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Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop Although this was only a short preliminary task, you have used Photoshop for this task and should have developed your skills sufficiently to be able to produce the front cover of a magazine. Image manipulation You will have used Photoshop to manipulate your central image (s) in some way, whether importing, cropping, or resizing, for example. Outline below the image manipulation skills used during this project.

Text manipulation You should also have used Photoshop to create and manipulate text on your cover: changing the size, colour or position of the fonts you used, for example. Outline below the text manipulation skills you used during this project.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Contents Page: Adobe In-Design For this task you have learnt how to use in-design to produce and layout a contents page. This will have involved you developing skills in areas such as structuring the layout of your page using text boxes and arranging text into columns, and also using the programme to move text and images around the page. List below the skills you have developed using in-design in terms of page layout and text and image manipulation.

I have learnt how to use Adobe In-Design to design a magazine which was made up of pieces of text and images which were taken and developed by myself as well as how to produce a professional looking layout including a colour consistent theme and professional additions such as the issue number, date and website.
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Digital stills camera You used the digital stills camera to take your photos for this project. List below any photographic skills you have used in doing this (such as framing, focus etc)

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Summarise below how pleased you are with the skills you have developed during this project. How effectively have they allowed you to produce the kind of product you wanted to produce? What further skills would you like to develop using these programmes?

Overall, I am happy with the skills I have learnt over the duration of the course. They have allowed me to create a professional looking magazine through the use of image capturing, manipulation and designing the complete layout of the production. I have learnt to use Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and further developed my skills with various other software suites. I would still like to improve my photograph manipulation skills as well as magazine creation.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

AS Main Task: Music magazine cover, contents page, double page article. Your music magazine is the main task you will do at AS, and as a result you should have developed your skills in Photoshop and in-design significantly from the preliminary task. The questions below are designed to help you record and reflect on this. Images First, reflect on your use of the digital stills camera for your photographs. Summarise below how your skills in the use of the digital camera have developed from the preliminary task (this refers to taking photos, not image manipulation. Think about mise-en-scene, framing etc.)

Since the preliminary task to create a college magazine, I have learnt how to take more professional looking pictures with the use of mise-enscne, framing and the layout of the different aspects within the photo.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Music Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop Begin by looking back at the comments you made about how you used Photoshop for your college magazine. Then consider how you have developed your skills for this exercise. Image Manipulation: Outline below the new image manipulation skills you have developed during this project. Say what you used the skills to achieve and how pleased you are with the results.

Over the course of creating and designing the magazine, I have learnt to manipulate and edit photos which were then used in my magazine. Effects such as changing the contrast and brightness were used, I found out how to change the colour levels and use filters to add professional looking effects on my photos.
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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Text manipulation Outline below the new skills you have developed during the production of your cover. Think about all of the text manipulation you might have done, such as shadowing, etc. Again describe why you used each technique and how pleased you are with the results.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Summary: How useful do you feel Photoshop was in enabling you to produce your magazine cover? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to develop?

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Music magazine: InDesign You will have used InDesign to produce your contents page for your music magazine and also for the production of your article. Use the space below to outline and reflect on any new skills you have developed. Layout Comment on how you used in-design to layout your pages, using text boxes, columns, etc. Comment on specific tools you used and on how useful you found the programme to be.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Text Comment on how you used InDesign to position and manipulate text. Describe specific techniques you used and evaluate their usefulness for the tasks you were set (ie production of contents pages and article).

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Summary: Summary: How useful do you feel InDesign was in enabling you to produce your contents page and your article? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to develop?

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Skills2: Research and Planning

For both your Preliminary and Main coursework tasks, you undertook both secondary and primary research. Below, you are required to reflect on this, beginning with the Preliminary task.

College magazine. Although your college magazine was a preliminary task, you should have carried out some research in order to allow you to complete the task. Outline below what your research objectives were for this task: ie exactly what it was that you needed to find out.

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Outline below and discuss the usefulness of the research methods that you used during the production of the college magazine.

Skills2: Research and Planning

Was the research that you carried out sufficient to allow you to complete the task to a satisfactory standard?

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How might you improve your research skills next time?

Skills2: Research and Planning

Outline below the planning tools you used for this task and reflect on their usefulness

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Skills2: Research and Planning

Music Magazine. Your main task is a more detailed task and as a result you should have developed and used more advanced and sophisticated research skills. You need to outline and reflect on these below. Audience Research Before producing your magazine you were required to carry out research into the tastes and interests of your audience in order to help you produce a magazine that would appeal to them. Summarise the aims and objectives of your audience research below:

Outline the research methods you used for audience research (ie questionnaires, focus groups). 15

Outline the different styles of questioning you employed (ie open/closed) and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each style.

Skills2: Research and Planning

How did you select your sample? Reflect on this.

How did you present your findings (graphs, etc.)? Reflect on this.

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It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel you could improve your audience research for your next piece of production work? Set clear targets for this.

Skills2: Research and Planning

Topic Research In addition to carrying out audience research you should also have carried out research into the particular genre or area of music that you made your magazine about. Outline and reflect on this below. Begin by outlining your research objectives. What exactly was it that you wanted to find out?

Internet Research. Outline below the websites you used for your research, indicating how useful you found each to be and summarising what you found from each site.

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How did you check the validity and reliability of your findings?

List and reflect on the usefulness of any other research methods you used for your topic research below.

Skills2: Research and Planning

It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel you could improve your topic research for your next piece of production work? Set clear targets for this, eg Next time I will ensure that each fact I use will have been cited by at least 2 sources.

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Skills 3 Using Conventions from real media texts

All Media genres have set of conventions that the audience expect to find in them: in a Science Fiction film, for example, we expect a certain type of setting plus spaceships, aliens, explosions, possibly battles in space. These conventions develop, however, as Media producers challenge some of the traditional conventions of texts. In the film Psycho, for example. Alfred Hitchcock unsettled and surprised his audience by having the character played by the films main star killed after 30 minutes: something Horror audiences at the time didnt expect to happen in a horror film (or in any film, come to that.) Before you produce any Media text you will need an understanding of the conventions of that particular genre. This unit asks you to reflect on how you have done this and how your ability to follow, or develop, the codes and conventions of the media texts you will produce has improved during the course. College magazine Write below the codes and conventions of college magazines. Indicate how and why you have either used, ignored or developed these in your magazine.

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Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts

Music Magazine Before starting to produce your music magazine you should have spent time discussing the codes and conventions of the genre in lessons. You should also, individually, have researched examples of the specific kind of music magazine you decided to produce individually. Below you should discuss what you found the main codes and conventions of your text to be, in terms of style and content. You should then reflect on the extent to which you have followed these codes and conventions and also comment on any codes and conventions that you have not followed or have tried to challenge or subvert, explaining why you have done this. Front Cover Use the grid below to reflect on how you have used or developed the codes and conventions of music magazine covers. List the main conventions and then comment on how you have used them in your cover eg I used 2 Free offer splashes on my cover as I feel they are important in attracting readers in a competitive market. Conventions: Content

Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts

Now do the same for your contents pages and for your article Conventions: Content page content

Skills4 Post Production

For this section of the unit you are required to describe and reflect on the post-production activities you have carried out. This refers to areas such as gaining audience feedback on your products and successfully evaluating how you have worked. College Magazine: Outline below any methods you used to gain audience feedback (ie questionnaires, focus groups). Summarise your findings

We used questionnaires which were handed out to the students so that we could receive feedback on how good each part of the magazine production was. This allowed us to improve the bits which werent up to standard and let us know which parts the audience preferred.
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Outline below any evaluation that took place after you completed your production. Reflect on your conclusion and the methods you used.

Skills4 Post Production

Music Magazine For your music magazine you should have spent longer on the post-production stage. Below you should reflect on this. Audience feedback Briefly summarise why it is important to gain audience feedback on a production. To what use might the data be put?

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Outline below the aims and objectives of your audience feedback. What information were you trying to obtain?

Skills4 Post Production

Now describe the methods you used to gain audience feedback on your product (ie questionnaires, focus groups). Outline the methods of questioning you used within your questionnaires (ie open/closed/restricted choices) and reflect honestly on how productive these methods were.

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Skills4 Post Production

Summarise below your findings from your audience feedback. Having looked at this, how do you feel you could improve the quality of audience feedback you receive next time? Set clear targets, based on your experience this time around.

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Skills4 Post Production

Evaluation Outline below the methods you used to produce an evaluation for this production (ie powerpoint presentation, essay) How useful and appropriate was this method?

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How reflective do you feel you were in your evaluation?

How do you feel you might improve the quality of your evaluation for your next production?

Skills5: Creativity
College Magazine Here you are required to reflect on your creativity during the production tasks you produce on the course. This refers to your ability to create original and good quality products. How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you especially pleased with?

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Reflect below on the creative process ie how you came up with your ideas (brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting).

What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?

Music magazine How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you especially pleased with?

Skills5: Creativity
Reflect below on the creative process ie how you came up with your ideas (brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting). This may be an assessment of how you organised the photography, how you used the photographs, how you organised your layouts, the language you used, the way you drew attention to certain elements etc

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What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?

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