Examples of AS Media Coursework

http://weatherheadmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=50 - Examples of very high quality AS coursework

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/coursework-with-levels.html

Guide to labelling your posts - and easing the moderator's navigation!

In order to ensure your blog is as easy to navigate as possible and it is easy to find your finished construction task, please ensure each post is clearly labelled with one of the following headings:
- Research and planning
- Construction
- Evaluation
- Link to school magazine blog

This also means that those of you who are hoarding lots (I hope!) of work because you are worried about it being uploaded in the wrong order need not worry too much - the labelling process will ensure that we mark your work in the correct order.

Follow this step-by-step guide to ensure that your posts are easy to locate and that you start off on the right foot with the moderator! Click on each screen grab to see an enlarged version. The label headings will be slightly different as the screen grabs were produced for Year 13. Please refer to the headings above.

Glossary: Textual analysis technical terms

TV Drama Technical Terms Glossary

A helpful glossary for Media Studies

Another helpful glossary

Camera shots and angles

Deadline extension

After looking at your blogs over the weekend, we have decided to extend the deadline for your AS Foundation Production until midnight on Sunday 24th February.

This is the absolute final deadline and no work must be added to your blogs after this time.

Please use the extra time wisely and ensure you have completed all of the work outlined in the progress checklist. S13 is available for all of your study periods on Enhancement Day and during half term. Please email me if you plan to come into school during half term so that I can make arrangements with the Premises team regarding Health and Safety.

Evaluation

You should be finishing your construction now and getting ready to start putting together your evaluation, if you haven't already done so.

If you have taken our advice, you will have collated lots of material for your evaluation during the production process, so you should just need to assemble this together.

Your evaluation MUST answer the following questions in detail and be presented in an original and creative way - not just typed up in sentences:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Check out this section of Pete Fraser's blog for some inspiration as to how you may present your evaluation:
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/evaluation-for-ocr-coursework.html

Or open up this Powerpoint presentation which offers helpful suggestions as to how you might approach each question in a user-friendly format.

Good luck - and don't forget the final deadline is midnight on Friday 8th February!

Problem with Blogger - Uploading pictures

We are aware there is currently a glitch when it comes to uploading images via Blogger.

This is easily resolved as follows:
- Go to https://picasaweb.google.com/
- Click on 'Upload'
- 'Select photos from computer'
- Select the photos you want to upload
- Then, open the Blogger post
- Click on the graphic to upload a picture in the usual way
- Select 'From Picasa Web Albums'
- Hey presto - there are your images!

Research - Impact - Planning

• Some people are launching into their photography without having fully established a sense of their magazine’s brand identity or how they want to represent their artists in the magazine.

• It’s essential that you do this first, so that your findings inform your planning decisions and to ensure that you take the right sort of photographs in the first place!

• Think about it like a three-part process…

Refer to this lesson from 26/11/12 to ensure you understand the importance of linking your research and planning together and check that you are able to answer the first four questions in detail before proceeding!

The key features of a magazine cover

As previously discussed and to use as a reminder - Ensure you are able to identify the following when analysing music magazine and also when constructing your own magazine.

The features of a magazine cover

Masthead:                         The name of the newspaper or magazine.

Skyline:                                This is at the very top of the page and gives information about what the magazine has to offer i.e. free posters / competitions.

Slogan:                                 The words associated with the magazine or product the magazine is advertising i.e. ‘Because you’re worth it’

Anchorage Text:               This is the writing that is next to the main picture so it tells you what the main picture is about.

Price:                                     This is usually hidden in a corner if the magazine is expensive or written in large writing if the magazine is cheap.

Main Image:                       This is the big picture in the middle of the page or there may be lots of different pictures however there is usually one bigger than the rest. This is the main image.

Bar code:                             This is so the magazine can be scanned at the checkout till, the barcode is usually in the corner.

Sell Lines:                            These are the writing down the sides or along the bottom of the front page, this gives information about the other articles inside the magazine.

Layout:                                 Is the front cover very organised or is it very busy? Are there lots of arrows and text boxes or lots of puffs? Does the front cover say ‘You’ or ‘Your’ a lot?

Puff:                                      This is in the shape of a circle or a star and it gives other information about the magazine articles.

Colour Scheme:                What colours are being used? Is it pink? Is it for women or girls?

Research and planning: Progress check

Remember, you should be keeping a close eye on the production schedule for your magazine, which can be found here.

Many of you are falling behind and you are not making use of the resources on this blog. In order to move forward with the planning phase you should have done the following and posted your findings on your blog:

• Researched the music magazine industry 
• Researched examples of music magazines - their brand identities, audiences and content analysis
• Identified the genre for your own magazine - explaining how you have reached your decisions (not just because you like it!)
• Researched the conventions of this genre and the personae of typical artists from this genre (mood boards would be useful for this - check out the examples on the blog)
• Researched the conventions of magazine design for your chosen genre - including detailed textual analyses of front covers, contents pages and double page spreads, which you link back to the magazines' respective brands and target audiences.
• Taken this research to your audience and get their feedback on what they want from a music magazine

As we stressed when you produced your school magazine, it's essential that you reflect on  your findings and identify how they will influence your decisions about your own magazine.

Then, you are ready to start planning the following and explaining reasons for your decisions, based on your research findings.

The magazine in general:

• Your magazine's 'brand identity' and mode of address - You should explain how you will lay out your magazine in a way that reflects the brand identity. Use the example we did together, analysing Q magazine to help you.
• A flat plan for your magazine showing the contents
• Your magazine's title and masthead
• Your choice of register, colours, fonts etc. to form a style guide for your magazine

The artists you will photograph for your magazine:

• Your choices of models
• The 'star images' or 'personae' you are going to construct
• Costume, hair and make-up
• Gesture codes and modes of address
• Camera shots and angles and lighting you will use
• Locations, props, colours you will associate with these artists

Your front cover, DPS and contents page:

• What you will include and how they will be laid out (hand-drawn drafts are fine for this at first - you can scan these in and upload them on to your blog, accompanied by either a written or audio commentary)

Please email your new blog addresses URGENTLY

If you have not already created your blog and submitted your address, you are behind schedule, and your progress is deemed as 'Red'.

Please read this post carefully: http://beaverwoodmediaas.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/new-blog-address-for-music-magazines.html


I have only received links to music magazine blogs from these students.

A reminder that the deadline for these blogs to be set up was Thursday 25th October - over a week ago. By now, your research should be well under-way, but without access to your blogs, we are unable to monitor your progress and give you the feedback you need. Please email the link to beaverwoodmedia@gmail.com urgently.

Please ensure that you are checking the AS media blog hub regularly to make use of the resources that are posted for you and to ensure that you are on top of all coursework deadlines - remember your time management skills are formally assessed in this unit!

I will be contacting parents of all those students whose blogs are still judged as 'Red' by the end of the week.

Good luck and if you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact me. 121MS - please use our lessons on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th to continue with your research.

New blog address for music magazines - Deadline this Thursday

- Click on the Blogger icon in the top left section of your blog to go to your dashboard.
- Click on 'New Blog'
- Call your new blog something like 'Name's AS Music Magazine Coursework' and choose an appropriate blog address
- Please email your new address to beaverwoodmedia@gmail.com
- Your first post should be entitled: 'Link to School Magazine Blog' and you should copy and paste a hyperlink to your school magazine blog (even if this blog is still in progress)

Link to Photoshop tutorials

Need to crop, edit or manipulate your photographs?
Need to produce a CD digipak or a front cover of a magazine?
Then use Photoshop!

Click here for video tutorials on every aspect of Adobe Photoshop CS4. This program is installed on all PCs in S13.

Link to Indesign tutorials - for your page layouts

You should NOT be using MS Word or MS Publisher to lay out your magazines or newspapers!

Click for video tutorials on every aspect of Adobe Indesign CS4. This program is installed on all PCs in S13.

The importance of colour

Remember, as part of your house style, you will need to come up with a colour palette that best reflects the brand of your magazine, appeals to your target audience and represents both in the way that you intend.

Here are some links you might like to check out when thinking about your magazine's colour palette:

http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html - a useful guide to colours and their connotations

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/01/28/color-theory-for-designers-part-1-the-meaning-of-color/ - a very detailed article, aimed at designers

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=397565&section=1.3.3 - Guidance for creating websites, but with relevant references to using colour to target different audiences

http://www.colourlovers.com/palettes/new/all-time/meta?page=1 - a wide range of colour palettes created by different users for inspiration.

Language and Register: Mode of address

How will your magazine 'speak' to its readers?

Language Registers

There are five language registers or styles. Each level has an appropriate use that is determined by differing situations. It would certainly be inappropriate to use language and vocabulary reserve for a boyfriend or girlfriend when speaking in the classroom. Thus the appropriate language register depends upon the audience (who), the topic (what), purpose (why) and location (where).

You must control the use of language registers in order to enjoy success in every aspect and situation you encounter.

1.      Static Register

This style of communications RARELY or NEVER changes. It is “frozen” in time and content. e.g. the Pledge of Allegiance, the Lord’s Prayer, the Preamble to the US Constitution, the Alma Mater, a bibliographic reference, laws .

2.      Formal Register

This language is used in formal settings and is one-way in nature. This use of language usually follows a commonly accepted format. It is usually impersonal and formal. A common format for this register are speeches. e.g. sermons, rhetorical statements and questions, speeches, pronouncements made by judges,  announcements.

3.      Consultative Register

This is a standard form of communications. Users engage in a mutually accepted structure of communications. It is formal and societal expectations accompany the users of this speech. It is professional discourse. e.g. when strangers meet, communications between a superior and a subordinate, doctor & patient, lawyer & client, lawyer & judge, teacher & student, counselor & client,

4.      Casual Register

This is informal language used by peers and friends. Slang, vulgarities and colloquialisms are normal. This is “group” language. One must be member to engage in this register. e.g. buddies, teammates, chats and emails, and blogs, and letters to friends.

5.      Intimate Register

This communications is private. It is reserved for close family members or intimate people. e.g. husband & wife, boyfriend & girlfriend, siblings, parent & children.

Rule of Language Use:

One can usually transition from one language register to an adjacent one without encountering repercussions. However, skipping one or more levels is usually considered inappropriate and even offensive. 

Source: Montano-Harmon, M. R. “Developing English for Academic Purposes” California State University, Fullerton.

OCR Media Studies - Basic Camera Shots

Remember, the front cover of your school magazine MUST include a mid-shot of your model. This means a shot of them from the waist up, so it's essential that you plan for this when mocking up your layouts and - most importantly - taking your photographs!

Links to useful resources:

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/
http://www.urbanfox.tv/creative/shotsizes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_techniques

Fonts/typography/type face/lettering

These resources should help you denotate and connotate the fonts used by existing media - and , most importantly, choose your fonts for your own magazines carefully, linking them to the overall 'brand' or 'image' you are trying to represent.

Remember, you only really need to choose two fonts that are used throughout your magazine - if you go for many more than this, your magazine will be in danger of looking disorganised and confused!

The first four pages of this pdf file provides a helpful introduction.




Dafont is a popular website for downloading fonts

Click here for an interesting article from an online design magazine

AS coursework: Blog progress check

AS coursework: Your schedule

Monitor your progress against these deadlines – and if you see yourself falling behind, CATCH UP! Record key dates in your diary and work out when and how you will use your independent study periods and homework.

During the course, you’ll be able to see what your teachers think of your blogs here.

Red = We are concerned you are falling behind. If you do not catch up and improve/add to your blog, you are in danger of failing the course.

Amber = You are making satisfactory progress, but there is more to be done to secure yourself the grade you are capable of.

Green = You are on top of your coursework, and are making good progress. Keep up the good work and refer to the comments we have posted on your blog to help develop your coursework even further.

By 5^th October

Research into existing media

What are the conventions of a magazine front cover?

What is a school magazine? What are their different purposes and audiences?

Analysis of 2-3 different existing school magazines

Research into target audience

Who is your target audience? (Particular age group/niche if applicable)

Audience questionnaire/interview/focus group etc. – What they want from a school magazine

Results and evaluation of research

Collate your findings and present appropriately

What have you learnt from your research and how will this influence the decisions you make about your school magazine? 

Planning and drafting

Based on your research, develop a clear idea of your brand and your target audience: How will you communicate? How will they be positioned? How will both be represented?

Identify which conventions you will follow and why

Which locations, costumes, props and actors have you considered? Which ones will you use and why?

Mock up layouts and from these, draw up a shooting schedule (include shot list, location, props etc.), ensuring you have permission to take photographs in these locations

By 19^th October

Production

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence. This will form an ongoing 'Behind the Scenes' commentary on your production work (and pick you up LOADS of marks for your evaluation if you do it well!)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

Upload final layouts and explain the denotations/connotations, with reference to magazine conventions

By 2^nd November– MAIN TASK (MUSIC MAGAZINE)

Research into existing media

What is a music magazine? What different types exist? Who publishes them? For whom? What are their different purposes and audiences?

Analysis of 3 different existing music magazines

Research into your chosen genre

Which genre(s) have you chosen and why?

What seem to be the conventions of this genre? Who is the target audience?

Who are the main publishers for magazines of this genre? Are there particular conventions that are specific to these types of magazines?

Choose three artists associated with this genre and analyse how each one’s ‘star image’ has been created. How are they represented and how does the target audience relate to them?

Research into target audience

Who is your target audience? (Particular age group/gender percentages/geographical/brands they buy/where they shop/interests/values/etc.)

Audience questionnaire/interview/focus group etc. – What they want from a music magazine

By 16^th November

Results and evaluation of research

Collate your findings and present appropriately

What have you learnt from your research and how will this influence the decisions you make about your music magazine?

Planning and drafting
Based on your research, develop a clear idea of your brand and your target audience: How will you communicate? How will they be positioned? How will both be represented?

Identify which conventions you will follow and why

Which locations and actors have you considered? Which ones will you use and why?

Mock up layouts and from these, draw up a shooting schedule (include shot list, location, props etc.), ensuring you have permission to take photographs in these location

By 30^th November

Production

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record evidence (again - an ongoing ‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary - see point above!)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

By 14^th December

Production continued

Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record video evidence (an ongoing‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary)

What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

By 11^th January

Production continued

· Ensure you keep track of photos taken (and selected), problems encountered, decisions made (and altered) etc. and upload evidence ensuring you record video evidence (an ongoing ‘Behind the Scenes’ commentary)

· What technology/equipment have you used? What have you learnt?

Upload layouts and explain the decisions you've made and denotations/connotations, with reference to magazine conventions

By 25^th January

Production continued

What has your audience said about your finished magazine?

How does it compare to other music magazines on the market?

What have you changed as a result of this? What effect has this had on your finished magazine? Upload any amended layouts and accompanying analysis.

By 8^th February

Evaluation

Multimedia evaluation uploaded to include at least three of the following: text, images (screen grabs etc.), hyperlinks to research, video footage, voice-over.

Checklist for Media Coursework

Checklist for ‘A’ Level Media Coursework

ALL

All blog addresses must be submitted via a central hub and contain links to all production work

Blogs must be meaningful and reflective
Have a look at the exemplar work at http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com. Be honest and realistic when reflecting on your own construction work and planning improvements

Evaluations must make creative use of digital technology (E.g. A director’s ‘Making of…’ documentary for music video or commentary recorded over main task or, at the very least, include screen grabs and not text only)

Evaluations must address issues of institution (e.g. publisher and distribution) and audience in detail

AS

Do not spend time on School Magazine at the expense of the Music Magazine – preliminary task is not marked

Magazines must have a distinct house style – e.g. lettering, colour scheme

At least 4 original images – NO FOUND IMAGES AT ALL

To achieve Level 4, photographs must include more than one band/artist and a range of mise en scene

Pages must be set up as correct size

Photoshop for front covers only

Indesign must be used for contents pages and DPS

Coursework deadlines