Creativity

You will probably not get a question on creativity on its own. Creativity is usually only used in conjunction with one of the other key areas.

·         What features of your work would you say are original to you?

·         Which media texts and producers have influenced your creative decisions?

·         How successfully does your work engage its audience and provoke its interest?

·         Consider some of the creative choices you had to make during the course of your production – how to use cameras, lighting, dialogue, colour etc. How did you make these decisions, and how did these contribute to the final production?

·         How did digital technology/ real media texts/ research and planning/ post-production give you an opportunity to express and stretch your creativity?

Digital technology

Possible things to consider...

·         How has digital technology helped you to capture your ideas?

·         What benefits do digital technologies offer over analogue? Are there any disadvantages?

·         How did digital technology influence your work in pre-production, production, and post-production?

·         How have your skills with digital technology developed, and how has this influenced your productions?

·         What role might digital technology plan in the distribution of your work?

·         How is digital technology changing media production?

“Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers”. In your own experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions? (Exam board example)

How has digital technology aided your creativity to during your coursework productions? 

Digital technology!

Digital Technology – how have your skills have progressed and how they helped you in your productions

Make sure your essay describes all of your Digital skills development over this course – make sure you show that more than one skill has been developed include camerawork, art work, framing, editing techniques and directing and reporting skills such as asking open questions.

1a

paragraph 1 should be an introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short.

paragraph 2 should pick up the skill area and perhaps suggest something about your starting point with it- what skills did you have already and how were these illustrated. use an example.

paragraph 3 should talk through your use of that skill in early projects and what you learned and developed through these. Again there should be examples to support all that you say.

paragraph 4 should go on to demonstrate how the skill developed in later projects, again backed by examples, and reflecting back on how this represents moves forward for you from your early position.

paragraph 5 short conclusion

Remember it's only half an hour and you need to range across all your work!

·          Checklist of requirements for success in the exam:

·          Creative decision making

·          Process

·          Progress over time

·          Specific examples

·          Reflections on own development

·          Terminology (theoretical/technical)

·          It’s about the student

Digital Technology

Digital Technology

You need to consider the skills you have learnt with software such as-

• Adobe Photoshop. The image manipulation program allowed you to manipulate graphics necessary for the magazine. E.g. crop tools such as Marquee (magic wand), Lassos, and colour converters such as Red Eye Corrector, Colour Variations, Colour Dropper, Dodge and Burn, text tools, picture boxes, shape tools, photograph manipulation, layers
• Movie Maker/Premiere enabled you to edit your films/audio files and introduced you to timelines, dissolve/fade transitions, sound effects, the layering of audio over images etc
• Weblogs e.g. blogger which allowed you to regularly post about your research & planning, progress and to display your final piece. It also enabled you to leave comments (audience feedback) on each other’s blogs.
• Other Web software – Prezi, Facebook, Twitter etc.

You also need to consider the skills you have learnt with hardware such as: cameras, USB cables, Lighting, Mini DV, cameras,Tripods,Fire wires,PC/Mac,Mini DV tape 

What are the pros and cons of the software and hardware you used in terms of skills development? How did you use your skills to aid the construction of your task?

Digital Technology – how have your skills have progressed and how they helped you in your productions

Throughout your essay you should try and give several examples of real occasions you used these technologies.  For example “At AS we started to use Blogger to keep a record of all our coursework.  We had no real experience of blogging prior to this etc  ……  then at A2 we developed our skills with blogger so instead of having a group blog, we were able to have an individual one.  This gave us more autonomy over our own work and helped us take more responsibility for all the research and planning”

Intro:  Digital technologies have a had a massive influence on media production over the last few years and since you started in Year 12 you have learned a massive amount about how to use them and what the benefits are of using them.  They in turn have had a massive impact on the quality of your finished products.

Premiere in comparison to Moviemaker,I Movie etc – Had zero experience at the beginning and have now moved from basic editing to more complex editing, effects, transitions, sound manipulation.  Be specific – What specific techniques did your group use and where?

Social Networking Sites – Allows you to communicate with a far wider network of people than other websites.  You could have used this to gather audience research, upload your video and ask for feedback etc..  Be specific – Give an example of something you did using facbook etc

You Tube – Allows you to communicate with a far wider network of people than other websites. Allowed you to research existing opening sequences and music videos.. you uploaded your opening sequences and used the feedback / comments that people posted to help you improve when it came to your A2 productions etc.. Enabled you to post your own video to a massive audience.  Be specific – Give example of real video you looked at, real comment you got etc..

Digital Cameras – Never used before.  Struggled initially with holding steady shots, framing etc..  But they allow instant playback, LCD screen, small, portable (in comparison to larger older bulkier cameras) etc.  Allowed you to film in small spaces, to easily travel all over London to film, to film something and view it straight away to check if was ok.  Now can easily film a variety of shot types.

Photoshop  (you used to use Word and Powerpoint etc) – Photoshop allows manipulation of images, effects, colours, cropping, layering images and words.  Be specific – What did you do on Photoshop?

Other technologies you could mention include : Live Type, Blogging, Prezzi, Internet

Conclusion: Digital Technology has enabled you (a consumer of media) to become a producer that can not only make a higher quality media product, but edit it and distribute it to a wide audience..

To get A & B grades

To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not just DESCRIBING how your skills developed.  Instead you need to focus on the EVALUATE part.  To EVALUATE you could comment on any of the following throughout your work

•             HOW important digital technology was

•             WHY was digital technology important

•             WHAT EFFECT did digital technology have on your final work

•             WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without digital technology?

•             HOW did digital technology benefit you?

Digital Technology Theory

Ensure you understand the following -

1. Media Convergence
2. Proliferation of Media
3. The Long Tail
4. Web 2.0
5. Media Prosumers

Please research the following theorists ...

1. David Gauntlett - The Prosumer
2. Andrew Keen - The Prosumer creates amateurs
3. Chris Anderson - The long tail
4. David Chandler - Online genre proliferation
5. Henry Jenkins - blurred global boundaries, multiple communities
6. Michael Wesch - Youtube as a cultural phenomenon