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

Deadline Monday @ Midnight!!!

Please make sure you have submitted your blog by Midnight Monday. You must Email me your blogger xml file. You can email the file to either

Mr Ambrose - jambrose@beaverwood.co.uk
or
Beaverwoodmedia@gmail.com

To obtain your xml file and submit your blog, please follow these steps.....

1. Log in to your blogger account and go to your blog settings, by clicking on the drop down arrow next to your blog name and hitting settings...

2. Now select Other in the settings menu in the bottom right

3. Now select Export Blog and then hit download blog to download your blog

4. Finally email me your downloaded XML file....

If you have any questions please email Mr Ambrose asap

Important News!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr Ambrose and I have been checking your blogs regularly since December, we are very disappointed to note that many of you are not updating your blogs on a regular basis. May we remind you the deadline is 31st January that is two weeks from today! You will be given lesson time during the next two weeks to finish your coursework, if we do not think you are working hard enough in lessons then you will be put into Friday catch-up at the end of the week. Ms James & Mr Ambrose

A2 exam question 1a – Essay Structure

A2 exam question 1a – Essay Structure (suggested by OCR)

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!

Critical Perspectives in Media: An Exam In Two Parts....

Critical Perspectives in Media: An Exam In Two Parts....

Candidates are required to answer three compulsory questions:

Two questions on their own production work

One question from a choice of six topic areas.

The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on production work marked out of 25 each, and the media topic question marked out of 50.

There are two sections to this paper:

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Student Production (50 marks)

In question 1(a) students are asked to write about their work for the Foundation Portfolio and Advanced Portfolio units.  Students need to describe how they developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making.  They should refer to a range of examples in their answers to show how these skills developed over time.

The value of each student’s production log is clear as it provides the basis to answer this question.

The focus of this evaluation is on skills development, and the question will require students to adapt this to one or two specific production practices from this list:

1. Digital Technology
2. Creativity
3. Research and Planning
4. Post-production
5. Using conventions from real media texts

The second question 1(b) in section A of the exam asks students to identify one of their productions and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical media concept from:

1. Genre
2. Narrative
3. Representation
4. Audience
5. Media Language

Section B: Contemporary Media Issues (50 marks) discussing one from this list:

1. Contemporary Media Regulation
2. Global Media
3. Media & Collective Identity (Representations)
4. Media in the Online Age
5. Post–modern Media
6. ‘We Media’ & Democracy