Review of other work

Examples of work:

http://examplesofwork13.weebly.com/as.html

take a look and blog about what you've seen. Why are some good or bad? What actions do you need to take to make sure yours is good?

No more AS blogging from me today

Hi Lads,

I've now had the training for how to apply the criteria for AS coursework and have had a look at what type of work would get the higher grades. Rest of the afternoon will be spent on A2 coursework. You need to consider the following:

1. Independence; Making sure you are not doing everything we tell you but everything we say and then some! You need to show that you are taking on board what is being said to you and then looking at the genre you want to do. 
2. Audience; how else, other than your questionnaires, can you show you have sought advice from your audiences? How have you made sure that your planning and research reflects audience demands? Have you asked for audience feedback?
3. Organise yourselves; Is your blog consistent and up to date? Are there any massive gaps in your blog? Is your blog organised well?
4. Images; need to be taken for purpose and mise en scene needs to be considered. If you don't then don't expect good grades.

Update from my training

We have a lot of work to do to make sure we are looking at the correct codes and conventions from Music Magazines!

You will be having a specific lesson next week with either myself of Mr McCann on the way the exam board awards marks. You need to make sure that you are in as it is important that you plan accordingly for this coursework.

Construction: Print

• Front Covers Most successful element of  the construction.
• Contents Pages - least successful (image use and form/conventions)
• Think about the layout and specifics of font size.
• Think about the number of images needed.

• Double Page spreads - variable but some issues with rule of thirds.
• No magazine has the same image on all pages and never in the same clothes! MAKE YOUR MODEL BRING A CHANGE OF CLOTHES.
• More variety in the need for costume, pose and background for images.
• Requirement for AT LEAST FIVE images across the three pages
• NO FOUND IMAGES -need to include all originals
• Can use logos from twitter and facebook
• If you want to use logos from Reading or Leeds then if you contact them for permission and screen grab the email you send. 
• Avoidance of friends/facebook shots - needs to be actual photos taken for the actual brief
• ALL IMAGES NEED TO BE SHOT FOR PURPOSE: your holiday snaps 2 years ago were not shot for this purpose...be sensible.
• Focus on the finer details - spellings/copy size/register/font style and colour.

Research and Planning Key Findings

• Best centres encourage balance of the two elements: 
• Must do a mixture and a clear balance of both...need to make sure you are planning as well...not just doing what you are being told.
• Create sense of journey
• You need to show your progression. 
• Doing 1 thing really well DOES NOT make your work good. BE CONSISTENT
• Candidates reflect upon the production and impact during the process
• Don't just analyse the front cover: say what you have learnt from it. What does this mean for your construction?
• Retrospective planning to be avoided completely- clearly obvious
• Teacher- led class work was often the only form of research for some candidates
• You need to do research beyond that of what is done in class. 
• If we teach you the basics of analysis using an NME cover for example you need to choose a cover from your own genre. You also need to make sure if we do NME and you're doing NME then you need to  do an extra piece of work. 
• BE INDEPENDENT
• Specific research into the actual products being produced is needed - music magazines and Videos
•  Look at the specifics of everything:
• Fonts
• titles
• layout
• Edits
• Audience needs more consideration at this stage rather than just in the evaluation
• Need to consider who is the audience?
• What are the background?
• Not just a questionnaire!

Direct from the Exam Board: Something to consider!!!

The practice of students giving out questionnaires and putting all the returned examples in their evidence has been discouraged for a long time. The main problem with this approach is not the survey method per se but the limited nature of the questions and the claims made for the responses. For example, asking ten fellow students their favourite genre of film, finding that seven out of ten say ‘horror’ and then using that to justify making a horror film opening as a result. Audience research is more productive if it addresses the following:

·      What do real audiences consume?

·      Who are the specific audiences for particular products?

·      How do media industries target those audiences?

Those questions require research of a different kind to the local questionnaire method; initial research online looking for data about the industry students are dealing with, such as box office figures for films or circulation figures for magazines would be a good starting point. Part of research involves looking for examples of how marketing works across a range of media- for films this includes considering posters, trailers and their selling points, for example.

Later audience research should be considered in a series of stages, each involving formative qualitative feedback. So, for example:

·      Pitching the product to the rest of the group and taking feedback, noting the responses from this and deciding how to act as a result.

·      Showing early drafts of the work (such as an animatic of the storyboard or a mock up front cover) and asking some carefully framed questions about them to get a sense of the audience’s understanding of the product rather than just a measure of whether the audience liked it.

·      Taking peer feedback at later stages and then again on the finished product; asking things like “can you tell me what happened in that sequence, what the relationship between the characters is and what do you think will happen in the rest of the film?” to look for audience readings of the work. ‘

These approaches can be presented in a variety of ways- video extracts with framing commentary from the makers; audio, written. All would help move away from the pie chart of responses model which tends to be fairly unproductive.

Key Findings from June 2013: For me and Mr McCann mostly!

• 80% of centres presented work online
• Requirement for central hubs
• Candidate record forms need to be a combination of personalised comments informed by the criteria- use interactive forms to avoid clerical errors: Don't copy and paste comments from others sheets and criteria you need to make direct reference to what they have done to get a solid mark from each element. Be specific in your reasons for giving marks e.g. they did  X particularly well in Research and Planning which shows Y.
• Blogs should be clearly organised and signposted: Must put final piece of work on the top of the blog. Last thing to upload is the Magazine pages or the Music Video.
• Cut off Point for Submissions: DEADLINES ARE DEADLINES Nothing after the final OCR deadline will be marked.
• Differentiation for group marking. Why do they deserve the same mark? Why don't they deserve the same mark? IF YOU DON'T CONTRIBUTE YOU DON'T GET ALL THE MARKS OTHERS IN YOUR GROUP WILL