AS Evaluation Questions and Activities - Print

Useful websites to help you can be found in the link bar on the right hand side. The film version can be found here

For the final 20 marks of the project, you must complete seven tasks on your blog, posting them in this order, with the question heading at the top of each task. You may do them as a pair/group, but must post individual copies on each blog. Make sure you answer each question as well as producing the visual elements. Try not to write more than 1500 words in total.

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 continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1

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

As part of your planning and research you should have looked at Music Magazines and selected a particular sub genre (e.g. Indie, pop, r&b, dance etc) to re-create. Find an example of a pre exisiting music magazine which matches your magazine, paste it into your blog and highlight the key generic conventions of the magazine (the list of terminology can be found HERE)

You should go through the final version of your project and select elements which follow conventions and any which do not.

The aspects we would like you to consider across your nine frames are:

The title of the magazine

Graphology/page layouts

Costumes, props, iconography used to reflect genre

Camerawork and framing of images

Title, article, header etc font and style

Genre and how the magazine cover, contents and spread suggests it

How your artist(s) are represented

Colour scheme

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Pick a key image of your artist from your magazine (ideally the cover image). Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more recording artists/stars from other magazines with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those stars and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume etc.

So for example if you have a female R&B star on your cover, look for other female R&B star to compare them with (remember to try and ensure that they are of a similar age, race etc)...

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3

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

For this question, you are going to do a 'director's commentary' style voiceover explaining some of the key features of your magazine cover

You will need to script the voiceover which deals with institutional issues to include:

discussion of your production company name and logo and the role of such companies

What does a publishing company do?

the idea of a distributor and who that might be and why. start here

where the money might have come from for a magazine such as yours here

what your magazine is similar to 'institutionally' (name some magazines which would be released in a similar way)

You need to refer to actual company names and processes so you will need to maybe do a bit more research into magazine publishers like emap

When you have scripted, record the voiceover using iMovie, windows movie maker etc on a new audio timeline, then export to quicktime and embed on blog. (this is a good example of what you can do. It was created for A2 and a slightly different question but the style is correct).

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

You should have a drawing of your target audience member and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite Tv programme would be, etc.

make sure you have taken a photo of it, post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would buy your magazine.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Take a screen grab of your magazines cover, content and spread and place into iMovie, movie make etc. You will then use YOUTUBE's annotation tools to add NOTES, SPEECHBUBBLES, and LINKS to your magazine:

http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=92710

These annotations will highlight the ways in which your Magazine links to other similiar films in order to attract the particular Audience you have previously identified.

Your annotations will refer to genre conventions, use of iconography, similarities with other magazines and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your imaginary film.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6

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

In pairs, take a picture of each other holding the kit you have used. This might just be the camera and tripod, and your Macbook but there may be other things you want in the shot.

Drop the image onto your blog and annotate it, adding all the programs and other technology you have used as screengrabs and what you learnt about it/from using it. Your written text need only be minimal. You could include reference to all the online and computer programs you have used such as flickr, blogger, facebook, photoshop, vimeo, scribd, slideshare etc.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7

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

Concentrate on mise en scene and camerawork.

Grab some images from both tasks and put them on the blog and show what you know about shot types, magazine terms etc. Explain how you've improved.

EVALUATION QUESTIONS - FILM

For the final 20 marks of the project, you must complete seven tasks on your blog, posting them in this order, with the question heading at the top of each task. You may do them as a pair/group, but must post individual copies on each blog. Make sure you answer each question as well as producing the visual elements.

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

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 continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1

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

Remember when we looked at 9 frames from Art of the title sequence? Well now it's your turn to do the same with nine of your frames.

You should go through the final version of the project and select nine distinct frames which you screengrab and drop into a photoshop in the same style as the website. You will be using these to write about how typical or not of opening sequences your particular design is, so choose them carefully.

Once you have the nine frames neatly in Photoshop, screengrab the whole thing and post to your blog, then write an analysis of how you have used such conventions.

The aspects we would like you to consider across your nine frames are:

The title of the film
Setting/location
Costumes and props
Camerawork and editing
Title font and style
Story and how the opening sets it up
Genre and how the opening suggests it
How characters are introduced
Special effects

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those characters and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume, role in film etc.

So for example if you have a lone cop type character, look for other lone cops to compare him with...

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 3

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


For this question, you are going to do a 'director's commentary' style voiceover explaining some of the key features of your opening

You will need to script the voiceover which deals with institutional issues to include:

discussion of your production company name and logo and the role of such companies

What does a production company do? start here
the idea of a distributor and who that might be and why. start here
where the money might have come from for a film such as yours herewhy the various people are named in the titles- which jobs appear in titles and in what order and how have you reflected this?
what your film is similar to 'institutionally' (name some films which would be released in a similar way)
You need to refer to actual company names and processes so you will need to go back to the early posts on film companies and maybe do a bit more research

When you have scripted, record the voiceover using Final Cut on a new audio timeline, then export to quicktime and embed on blog.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

You should have a drawing of your target audience member and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite Tv programme would be, etc.

make sure you have taken a phot of it, post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would watch your film.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5

How did you attract/address your audience?
You will use YOUTUBE's annotation tools to add NOTES, SPEECHBUBBLES, and LINKS to your video:

http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=92710

These annotations will highlight the ways in which your Film Opening links to other similiar films in order to attract the particular Audience you have previously identified.

Your annotations will refer to genre conventions, use of music, similiarities with other movies and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your imaginary film.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6

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


In pairs, take a picture of each other holding the kit you have used. This might just be the camera and tripod, and your Macbook but there may be other things you want in the shot.

Drop the image onto your blog and annotate it, adding all the programs and other technology you have used as screengrabs and what you learnt about it/from using it. Your written text need only be minimal. You could include reference to all the online and computer programs you have used such as youtube, flickr, blogger, final cut,photoshop,vimeo garageband, etc.

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7

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

Concentrate on editing and camerawork.

Grab some frames from both tasks and put them on the blog and show what you know about shot types, edit terms and techniques.


Make sure you mention the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot

Evaluation - more advice

If you follow this and the step by step guide produced by Mr Smith you should achieve a good mark.

Hammondevaluationppt 1226070387643872 8

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Movie industry debates DVD releases - BBC article

3D films and DVD release dates have been high on the agenda at ShoWest

By Tim Masters
Entertainment correspondent, BBC News

A hot topic in Hollywood right now is how long cinema audiences should wait until they can watch a movie on DVD.
The subject has been high on the agenda at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas this week as the industry grapples with the impact of home cinema systems and changing viewer habits.
The issue was thrust into the spotlight last month when the Odeon cinema chain threatened to boycott Disney's Alice in Wonderland in the UK, Irish Republic and Italy.
Disney wanted to release Tim Burton's 3D fantasy on DVD at the end of May - three months after it opened in cinemas.
In the UK, the usual window for theatrical release is 17 weeks. Ten years ago the gap was six months.

Odeon reversed its decision after reaching "an enduring agreement" with Disney.
Actor Michael Sheen, who played the White Rabbit in Alice, described the row as "a storm in a mad hatter's tea cup".
But the reduced gap has worried some cinema owners who fear that it will dent ticket sales as film fans wait for the DVD instead of paying for the big screen experience.
In a speech at ShoWest, Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said the theatrical window was important, but the industry needed to adapt.
"Showing films in theatres is what makes a movie a movie," he said. "It's what makes stars stars. It's what makes films famous. It's what makes the public perk up and pay attention."
But he added: "It is clear from the changing economic model of our industry that we're going to have to re-evaluate the way in which the current window structure operates.
"To meet audience demand for entertainment when and where they want it, and to keep ahead of the pirates who will fill any void we leave, we've all got to be open to experimenting with new and different windows..."

World Cup effect

Richard Cooper, a senior analyst at Screen Digest, points out that Disney's actions over Alice in Wonderland doesn't necessarily mean that all windows will be shortened.
"What we've seen in the UK already indicates that it's only a handful of films that will see shortened windows - and it really will be to make the most of high sales points such as Christmas or Easter.
"The shortening of the window on Alice is largely so that it not only coincides with half term but also so that it misses the beginning of the World Cup - which historically has really dampened DVD sales."
Last month Disney told the BBC it was "committed" to theatrical windows, but there was a "need for exceptions to accommodate a shortened time-frame on a case-by-case basis".
According to Screen Digest, the "burn rate" of 3D films is a lot slower than 2D films - they continue to make money at the box office for a longer period. Nearly 30% of revenues are made after week four , compared to 16% on 2D films.

Sci-fi success

"What we've seen with Up and Avatar was the burn was far longer and this is almost irrespective of the number of theatres they are being shown in," says Mr Cooper.
This week, Twentieth Century Fox announced that the 2D DVD and Blu-ray version of Avatar would begins its global release on 21 April.
James Cameron's 3D sci-fi juggernaut was released in cinemas in December and is the highest grossing movie of all time, taking over $2.6bn (£1.7bn) globally.
Meanwhile, Alice in Wonderland has taken $400m (£262.4m) worldwide after just two weekends.
As well as cutting down on piracy, another reason why studios would like to see DVDs on the shelves sooner is to cut marketing costs.
"While it is in the cinema, the film acts as a very powerful marketing tool," says Mr Cooper. "That is a crucial part of the mix - the studios are trying to cut down on expenditure, now that package media sales are in decline worldwide."
The Cinema Exhibitors' Association, which represents the interests of around 90 per cent of UK cinema operators, says the Disney/Odeon row reflects wider-ranging efforts by studios to change "a key element of long-standing trading relationships".
"Cinema is not the music industry, where existing business models are widely seen as broken," it says, adding that UK cinema admissions have been steadily rising for the past 25 years.

3D screens

3D televisions have gone on sale this year
"Many cinemas have invested huge amounts of their own money in improving the cinema-going experience, most recently through digital 3D. Without a clear window between a film's theatrical release and its release on other platforms, such as DVD, that investment is at risk.
"Significant changes to the release window could cause a marked reduction in cinema admissions, particularly for those smaller operators who can only play a film several weeks after it is released.
"Hundreds of cinemas up and down the country would be put at risk by any significant reduction in admissions," the CEA says.
Unlike the UK, France has a more rigid model concerning DVD releases. DVD, Blu-ray and digital video-on-demand releases are available four months after the cinematic release.
Screen Digest's Richard Cooper says: "This is one of the few places where there is an officially mandated release window, there's some very firm legislation in place in France. Everywhere else it is by negotiation."
And while the debate about DVD release windows goes on, a further element in the mix is the dawn of 3D television.
3D sets are already on sale in the US, and manufacturers hope to launch their products in the UK and Europe over the next couple of months.
Sky rolls out its 3D service to customers later this year.
"3D in the home is coming," says Mr Cooper, "but those TV sets are going to be a bit more expensive than the standard top of the range 2D HD TVs - and if people want to watch 3D films it is a question of buying into a 3D enabled Blu-ray player."

Editing - the invisible art

In film-world editing is known as "the invisible art" - and it's probably the hardest to teach. After the director, the editor is the next most important person on the production side of making films. Once the film has been shot the editor gets to work and the process of shaping and creating a story out of a film's thousands of miles of footage can take months - and sometimes years!

Most of the terms you need to understand for editing in TV drama can be found in the link below. This link has most of the BASIC information on editing you need to know.

For practice in seeing how editing works in TV drama we can view a few sequences to identify the main types of edits and how they create meaning and narrative in a sequence from a TV drama.

Meanwhile, have a look at these abridged Youtube sections from "The Cutting Edge: the magic of movie editing". This is a "must see" for understanding the "invisible art". In Hollywood "the more invisible the cuts the better the editor".













Taken from AS and A2 Media Studies blog

A detailed essay plan for an Institutions and Audiences question

Consider why it is most sensible to begin at the end (with Exhibition - Audiences and Exchange) rather than with production and distribution, etc.

Click on the concept map to enlarge

So that your answer is not too narrowly based be able to make comparisons with a US film institution and film for production, distribution and exhibition. This will give your British case study a wider context and you will be better placed to argue how film practices in the British Film Industry are directly affected by the giant US conglomerates based in Hollywood. 

Exhibition, Consumption and Exchange - Case Study Concept Map

Institutions and Audiences: a distribution concept map

An essay plan for patterns and issues of an institution's ( film) production

This is a cut down version of a similar essay you will write which will later include the distribution and exhibition issues of your film institution. We will work on how you can discuss technological convergence and synergies across all three areas as you produce your blogs. Notice how I've tried to integrate arguments for them on each of the three parts of the institution case study.

Here is the essay question that you began in class. Remember to use its key words and phrases for your answer as you are not expected to reel off everything you know about the institution and a film it recently produced, distributed and exhibited:

The Essay Question

It is not the film industry; it the film business. 
( Eric Fellner of Working Title Films )

Using detailed examples from your case studies discuss the issues and patterns which enables your institution to thrive as a film business. 

Click on the image to enlarge. Oops! Missed out on the director. Still, the writer, Richard Curtis, also directed this film.

Institutions and Audiences Big Concept Ideas in a Concept Map

Audience and Institution - Film - Essay writing prompt for case studies on "Audience and Institution"

Audience and Institution - Film - A brilliant blog

Huge thanks to 'Dog', we're not sure who this person is, we assume its not "Dog the bounty hunter" or an actual dog, (though Lassie was quite talented) or where they work but their blog is brilliant. Above is a series of revision/teaching posters that they have created. If you 'click' on the image below (Laika, the first dog in space!) you will be whisked to their blog and all their posts on audience and institutions

TV - Technical Terms Glossart

CAMERA SHOTS
Aerial Shot – A camera shot taken from an overhead position. Often used as an establishing shot.
Close Up – A head and shoulders shot often used to show expressions/emotions of a character. Also can be a shot of an object, filmed from close to the object or zoomed in to it, that reveals detail.
Extreme Close Up – A shot where a part of a face or body of a character fills the whole frame/dominates the frame. Also can be a shot of an object where only a small part of it dominates the frame.
Establishing Shot – A shot that establishes a scene, often giving ther viewer information about where the scene is set. Can be a close up shot (of a sign etc) but is often a wide/long shot and usually appears at the beginning of a scene.
Medium Shot – the framing of a subject from waist up.
Two Shot – A shot of two characters, possible engaging in conversation. Usually to signify/establish some sort of relationship
Point-Of-View Shot (POV) – Shows a view from the subject’s perspective. This shot is usually edited so that the viewer is aware who’s point of view it is.
Over the Shoulder Shot – looking from behind a character’s shoulder, at a subject. The character facing the subject usually occupies 1/3 of the frame but it depends on what meaning the director wants to create (for example, if the subject is an inferior character, the character facing them may take up more of the frame to emphaise this)
Overhead Shot – a type of camera shot in which the camera is positioned above the character, action or object being filmed.
Reaction Shot – a shot that shows the reaction of a character either to another character or an event within the sequence.

CAMERA ANGLES
Camera Angle – the position of the camera in relation to the subject of a shot. The camera might be at a high angle, a low angle or at eye level with what is being filmed.
High Angle – A camera angle that looks down upon a subject or object. Often used to make the subject or object appear small or vulnerable.
Low Angle – A camera angle that looks up at a subject or object. Often used to make the subject/object appear powerful/dominant.
Canted framing (or oblique) – camera angle that makes what is shot appear to be skewed or tilted.

CAMERA MOVEMENT
Pan – Where the camera pivots horizontally, either from right to left or left to right to reveal a set or setting. This can be used to give the viewer a panoramic view. Sometimes used to establish a scene.
Track - a shot whjere the camera follows a subject/object. The tracking shot can include smooth movements forward, backward, along the side of the subject, or on a curve but cannot include complex movement around a subject. ‘Track’ refers to rails in which a wheeled platform (which has the camera on it) sits on in order to carry out smooth movement.
Crane – A crane shot is sometimes used to signify the end of a scene/ programme /film. The effect is achieved by the camera being put onto a crane that can move upward.
Stedicam - A steadicam is a stabilising mount for a camera which mechanically isolates the operator's movement from the camera, allowing a very smooth shot even when the operator is moving quickly over an uneven surface. Informally, the word may also be used to refer to the combination of the mount and camera.
Tilt - where a camera scans a set or setting vertically (otherwise similar to a pan).
Zoom – Using a zoom lens to appear to be moving closer to (zoom in) or further away from (zoom out) a subject/object when in fact the camera may not move (so, strictly not camera movement). Can be used for dramatic effect.

EDITING
Editing – the stage in the film-making process in which sound and images are organised into an overall narrative.
Continuity Editing – the most common type of editing, which aims to create a sense of reality and time moving forward. Also nick named invisible editing referring to how the technique does not draw attention to the editing process.
Jump Cut – An abrupt, disorientating transitional device in the middle of a continuos shot in which the action is noticeably advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, usually done to create discontinuity for artistic effect.
Credits – the information at the beginning and end of a film, which gives details of cast and crew etc.
Cross Cutting – the editing technique of alternating, interweaving, or interspersing one narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another – usually in different locations or places, thus combining the two: this editing technique usually suggests Parallel action (that takes place simultaneously). Often used to dramatically build tension and/or suspense in chase scenes or to compare two different scenes. Also known as inter-cutting or parallel editing
Cutaways – A brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another related action. Object, or person (sometimes not part of the principle scene or main action), followed by a cutback to the original shot.
Freeze Frame – the effect of seemingly stopping a film in order to focus in on one event or element.
Eye-line Match – a type of edit which cuts from one character to what that character has been looking at.
Flashback – a scene or moment in a film in which the audience is shown an event that happened earlier in the film’s narrative.
Graphic Match – an edit effect in which two different objects of the same shape are dissolved from one into the other.
Juxtaposition – the placement of two (often opposed) images on either side of an edit to create an effect.
Linear Narrative – a style of storytelling in which events happen chronologically.
Montage Editing – the juxtaposition of seemingly unconnected images in order to create meaning.
Parallel Editing – a type of editing in which events in two locations are cut together, in order to imply a connection between the two sets of events.
Visual Effects - visual effects are usually used to alter previously-filmed elements by adding, removing or enhancing objects within the scene.
Match on Action - A shot that emphasises continuity of space and time by matching the action of the preceding shot with the continuation of the action. (For example a shot of a door opening after a shot of a close up of a character’s hand turning a door handle)

SOUND
Diegetic Sound – sound that can be heard by the characters within a scene/ sound part of the imaginary world.
Non-diegetic Sound – sound that the characters cannot hear and is not part of the imaginary world of the story. This includes a musical soundtrack or a voiceover (however this excludes a narration by a character within the story – referred to as an internal monologue and is diegetic).
Score – The musical component of a programme’s soundtrack, usually composed specifically for the scene.
Sound Effects – sounds that are added to a film during the post-production stage.

OTHER KEY TERMS
Artificial Light – A source of light created by lighting equipment, rather than from natural sources.
Convention – a frequently used element which becomes standard.
Disequilibrium – the period of instability and insecurity in a film’s narrative.
Enigma – the question or mystery that is posed within a film’s narrative.
Equilibrium – a state of peace and calm, which often exists at the beginning of a film’s narrative.
Framing – the selection of elements such as characters, setting and iconography that appear within a shot.
Genre – a system of film identification, in which films that have the same elements are grouped together.
Iconography – the objects within a film that are used to evoke particular meanings
Intertextuality – reference within a film to another film, media product, work of literature or piece of artwork.
Mise en scene – a French term, which literally means ‘put into the frame’. When analysing a sequence the term refers to everything you see in the frame (props, costume, lighting, colour, makeup etc.)
Narrative – a story that is created in a constructed format (eg. A programme) that describes a series of fictional or non-fictional events.

New technology in cinemas

In the world of cinema, the future is now. Digital technology is revolutionising not only what we see at the movies, but also how it is made. Europe's computer animation business is booming, and mass distribution is getting easier, and cheaper.

This clip will help with understanding of how digital technology (technological convergence or simply 'convergence') is changing the ways in which films are being produced, distributed and consumed. 35mm films will end up in museums whilst cheaper digital downloads offering an immersive experience far greater than before will proliferate on new digital screens in multiplexes. Although the focus is French an German the fact remains that what is true of them is also relevant for us. Watching this will help in attempts to discuss 'convergence' in the consumption/exhibition part of your works and you will be able to write about the changes that digital technology will bring to both cinemas and cinema goers.

AS evaluation exam board example

This has been posted by the exam board as a good example of an AS level evaluation.



It's worth looking at to make sure you at least equal it. We are hoping that your evaluations will be better. They should be, if you follow the advice posted.

Approaches to TV Drama - Exam Board advice

Designed for teaching and delivery but there is still some useful information for students.

Approaches to TV Drama

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Range of representation clips

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9722A1135EFF74A6