How has digital technology affected your creativity?

How has digital technology affected your creativity?

Section A Question 1a

Introduction: PDQ (Point Data Question)

Answer/give point of view to the question (I think my skills have developed in ………over the course of the two years/from AS to A2)

Outline briefly what you made across both years

Explain to the examiner how you are going to structure the essay

Structure

You should approach your essays using 3 stages:

1)      Pre-production

2)      Production

3)      Post-production

(Digital technology, creativity, use of real media texts)

You need to ask yourselves the following questions:

What digital technology did you use at AS pre-production (3 examples)

camera, internet,

What digital technology did you develop in A2 pre-production (at least 3 progression examples)

What digital technology did the students use at AS production (3 examples)

quark

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 production? (at least 3 progression examples)

 imovie

What digital technologies did you use at AS post-production? (3 examples)


photoshop

What digital technologies did you develop at A2 post-production (at least 3 progression examples)

Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.

Exemplar Q1A

 G325 Section A: Exemplar Essay

1a)

Over the two year media course we had to produce both a foundation portfolio of a school magazine and music magazine as well as an advance portfolio of a horror teaser trailer, film magazine – developing foundation skills further and a poster to advertise our trailer.

In the first year we researched existing music magazines and analysed each one so that we could gain knowledge of particular layouts, fonts and key elements that need to be contained in our production to make it successful. Research and planning allowed us to recognise ‘mastheads’ on magazines as being the most important and therefore the need to focus on a font more detailed to keep continuity with the contents page and double page spread which we also had to create.

Personally I researched ‘Rock’ magazines such as Kerrang, NME and others because I had chosen after carrying out a questionnaire to use Rock music as my theme. The real life media texts allowed me to visualise my favourite parts from each magazine – wripped sticker graphics and broken font on my own work which I then attempted to recreate within Photoshop CS4. In year one we were limited to what we could research because magazines were the only theme however, in the second year I was able to develop my ability to research real life media texts much further because we had a range of products we needed to create all under the ‘horror’ genre this time. I was able to research teaser trailers analysing my favourite and least favourite parts allowing me to plan with a mood board which I produced from a range of stills from previous horror films my ideas for my own trailer which helped me to develop my production of my products in relation to real life media texts and techniques such as restricted narration and handheld camera found in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ trailer which inspired my trailer ‘Laquem’ which is also set in the woods. Research into film documentaries like the ‘American Nightmare’ inspired me to create a product which reinforced fear and went against usual horror conventions to make it more interesting. Over the second year research became so important to achieving a product which was realistic and is now like my own distributed on on youtube as a real life media text of its own.

Real life media texts like advertising film posters were able to help me develop my Photoshop skills further because I was able to push myself with the ‘colour burn’ filters and want to create the scary atmosphere of my trailer from just an image and text which I found really fun.

Research into film magazines allowed me to develop my work from AS level so much further because I was able to produce a high standard piece of work in two weeks this year when the magazines took over 3 months last year which shows how much my skills have improves just by being able to constantly refer back to real life media texts for inspiration and even colour schemes that work well together such as black and red which in the first year I just found experimenting with. Research into horror trailers allowed me to recognise different styles of film and how we like Alfred Hitchcock could be an auteur creating new angles and ideas using generic conventions as well as unconventional representations that I have picked upon when watching films and analysing certain techniques which I have then attempted to do in Final Cut Pro when editing certain shots together to create collision cutting and changes in pace which my trailer does extremely well. I was inspired initially by the hand held camera in the trailer REC and the fact I want as an auteur to change the stereotyped representations to be able use a female psycho killer.

Research also allowed me to produce text and intertitles that shook in order to capture my audience but narrating the story slightly so the shots when together made sense. Research into types of camera movements needed were really helpful and allowed me to completely change the pace with tracking shots and handheld camera which I noticed was used in Silent Hill and American Werewolf in London which I analysed and placed on my blog for reference as some pieces of footage I wanted to recreate including the final girl representations.

There is some sense and reasoning with examples and progress is described clearly however few things are evaluated.








ex/an/ar 8/10
 use of examples 8/10
 use of terminology 4/5
20/25 high marks!




What are the 5 areas may you get asked on?




 will be 2 each question:
digital technology
creativity
research and planning
post production
using conventions from real texts




Can you guess what areas were being asked for?
research and planning and creativity


'describe how you developed research and planning skills  for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making?'

Exam info

Section a question 1a; 25 marks 30 mins
describe and evaluate your skills development


areas:

• digital tech
• creativity
• research and plannning
• post-production
• using conventions from real media texts

What did you do?
How did you do it?
How did your skills develop?
All supported with specific examples
In relation to the areas in question

Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of people that you have studied

I would like you all to start to write an essay drawing all the work we have done together. The PP about exam guidance on Section B is now on Learnzone and you all have notes.


2 PAGES


I want you to answer this question: Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of people that you have studied


I would like to see planning for this essay as well as a complete essay by next Friday so I am expecting an incredibbly high level response:


1) I want to see a plan/mind map using this structure that encorporates the four guided questions:


a) (Historic) How does contemporary representation compare with that of the past?


Contemporaray representation of youths is actually not that dis-similar of that of the past, a quote from Plato, 4th century, for example;
'What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders,; they disobey their parents. they ignore the law. They riot in the streets. Their morals are decaying. what is to become of them?'  sounds like something that would be said about youths by adults today therefore proving that realistically representations have changed very little. Connations of the word 'youth' have always beens very negative and also for mainly the same reasons.
b) (contemporary; main focus) How do contemporary media represent different collective groups in different ways?


Generally it splits people into stereotypes, if you wear a hoodie, in adults eyes, you are automatically only there to cause trouble and just want to steal things and hurt people, it is never considered that you might have just been exercising or that you were just wearing general casual clothes.
In newspapers, 3 quarters of the articles wriiten about teenagers are negative and generally there are only positive when someone is decesed generally by another teenager.


c) What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?


Some of the effects of what is said about youths in the media are that youths start to act the way they are portrayed in the media even if they would not necessarily do it normally as they think what is the point in being the complete oppsite of how they are portayed in the media when they are going to be seen as 'yobs' and 'thugs' no matter what they do.


d) To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’ ?


Any big event no matter where in the world it happens can be global knowledge in simply a matter of hours.Turkle 1998 said that the internet is the perfect place to create several identities of the self and this is very true you can choose the way you are portrayed to other people and you can even pretend to be someone your not or someone you aspire to be.


e) Conclusion; summary, the future and your own opinion
You must embed theory into this essay appropriately and refer to at least two different media 
All the support you need should be on my blog and/or Learnzone

Representation of young people

What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders,; they dipbery their parents. they ignore the law. They riot in the streets. Their morals are decaying. what is to become of them?


Plato 4th century.


still aplicable
representations havent changed british youth has always been thought of in a negative manner


Stereotypes are social constructs

• foster values that reinforce group and individual subordination
• marginalize people,training them as 'the other'
• categorize people into groups whose members share similar characteristics

characteristics of stereotypes

• stereotypes inflexible or rigid, this not easily corrected
• they are simplistic
• can be concious or unconcious

Hegemony
Media industries operate within a structure that produces and reinforces the dominant ideology via a consensua l'world view'...
This world view is produced predominantly by white middle aged heterosexual men.
it is their ideas and values that infiltrate media texts and ensure that other voices do not get heard.


propaganda
is a for of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some case or position.


yob,thugs, future of our country,fun, disrespectful
knowledgeable,




  ephebiphobia: fear of youth

Research for essay on riots

http://www.blogger.com/goog_1089256678


http://www.blogger.com/goog_1089256678


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2011/aug/24/riots-twitter-traffic-interactive


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14931987

Press Media

Representing youths


2005
Newspapers
40% of articules focus on violence,crime, anti-social behaviour; 71% are negative (2005)




2007,
Tv news, violent crime or celebrities; young people are only 1% of sources




2008,
72% of articles were megative 3.4% positive
75% about crime, drugs, police
boys: yobs, thugs,sick,feral,hoodies,louts,scum
Only positive stories are about boys who died young


Turning off the internet!
What role did new media technologies, particularly social networking sites play in the London riots?
do media cause riots or revolutions?
Technology and surveillance: mobile phones, CCTV, 24hour news...

Questions to answer from article:

How can you link cultural hegemony to this article?

How does the article suggest moral panic is being caused?

Can you link in McRobbies Symbolic violence theory? How?

How far do you agree with this article that governments decisions and policies are continuing to create a divide between the middle and working class? Discuss

Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson.