A2 Exam Preparation

Evaluation of your Practical Work

for G325

Section A
Q1a (25 marks)
Discussing your development from AS to A2
 Typical questions
Describe how you developed research and
planning skills for media production and
evaluate how these skills contributed to
creative decision making. Refer to a range of
examples in your answer to show how these
skills developed over time.

Describe the ways in which your production

work was informed by research into real
media texts and how your ability to use such
research for production developed over
time.

Describe how you developed your skills in

the use of digital technology for media
 In this question you will be asked
to discuss both your AS and your A2
productions in relation to one or two of the
following issues

Digital Technology
Creativity
Research & Planning
Post Production
Using conventions of real
media texts
 Examiners Advice
You only have half an hour for the question and you really
need to make the most of that time by quickly moving
from

description

(so the reader knows what you did)

to analysis/evaluation/reflection

(so the reader starts to understand what you

learnt from it.)
 Examiners Advice
You need some practice - this is very hard to do
without it!

Write an essay on each of the areas, or at the

very least do a detailed plan with lots of
examples. The fact that it is a 30 minute essay
makes it very unusual, so you need to be able to
tailor your writing to that length - a tough task!
 Examiners Advice

Strong answers have a range of specific examples.

Weaker answers are descriptive.

Technical and conceptual terminology needed

Evaluation and critical reflection on your work

is needed.

There needs to be a sense of progression over

your A Level journey.
 Examiners Checklist
Does the essay show

Creative decision making

Process
Progress over time
Specific examples
Reflection on own development

Is it about the Candidate?

 To do well

Example from the mark scheme

 To do well

Progression
Reflection
Specific examples in relation to
outcomes
Terminology
 Planning Your Essay

Paragraph 1

An introduction which explains which projects you did.

It can be quite short.
But give specific titles / music artists etc.
 Planning Your Essay

Paragraph 2

Pick up the skill area and suggest

something about your starting point
with it.
What skills did you have already and
how were these illustrated. Use
examples example.
 Planning Your Essay

Paragraph 3

Talk through your use of that skill

in early projects ,what you learned
and developed through these.
Again use examples to support
what you say.
 Planning Your Essay

Paragraph 4

Go on to demonstrate how the skill

developed in later projects, backed up by
examples, and reflect how this represents a
positive development for you.
 Planning Your Essay

Paragraph 5

Short conclusion summarising all your

points from the previous paragraphs.
 Example - Effect -
Progress
Example from an essay
Example - Effect -
Progress

efec
t
pr
og
re
ss
 Planning Your Essay
Use this chart to practise planning essays
Digital
Technology
 Digital Technology
What software was used
What hardware/equipment was used
What were the technical pros and cons
How did technology enhance/restrict your work
Discuss all stages of the process:
Pre-production
Production
Post-production
 Digital Technology

Give real examples to illustrate your points:

Before this course I had not used any

blogging software and found Weebly
difficult to use at first. However by the time I
had finished my A2 coursework, having used the
program to prepare both my portfolios, I found it
far easier to organise and present my work to a
high quality.
 Digital Technology

We used the Final Cut Pro non-linear editing

package in post-production. Our first experience
of this was editing our 180 degree exercises at
AS . I found it a steep learning curve but by the
time I came to edit my final A2 Music Video I had
learnt how to use it proficiently and found it
essential for pre-production animatics as well as
preparing my mini me analysis for my evaluation
where I used it to prepare picture in picture
effects to present my commentary for my work
 Digital Technology & Creativity

Using a Nikon D3300 digital SLR camera that

enabled us to quickly review our shots while
filming and efficiently re-shoot if we were
unhappy about the quality. It was also very easy
to transfer the work to my computer back in class
for post-production using Final Cut Pro to edit and
apply transitions and graphics. The non-linear
process enabled me to try out different narrative
structures and compare the results before
settling on a final product.
 Digital Technology & Creativity

Because my film was a romance I wanted the

overall look of it to be in soft, pastel colours.
When I had put together my final rough cut of
the film I used Final Cut Pro to slightly de-
saturate and soften the shots. In some places,
for instance when my two protagonists kiss, I
also softened the picture by adding the
appropriate special effect called blur.
 Digital Technology & Research

Using the internet, particularly Google and YouTube, I

was easily able to research real media texts to investigate
the generic conventions of trailers. Many real trailers can
be found on YouTube and by deconstructing and analysing
them I was able to work out the best way to make mine.
Lino and survey monkey enabled me to carry out audience
research when I had finished my film. I also uploaded two
different versions of it to my smartphone during post-
production so that I could survey friends opinions of how
I should end it.
 Use real examples

Remember to always include real examples

of what you have done in your work to
illustrate your points.

Try to avoid making general statements

Be specific. Give examples of real texts you

researched, real comments you got from
your audience, real things you learnt or did,
etc.
 Maximise your marks
To get a higher grade you need to ensure that
you are not just describing how your skills
developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

How important was digital technology

Why was it important
What efect did it have on your work
What couldnt you have done without it
How did you benefit from it?
 Digital Technology
Exercise

List each piece of technology

you have used and then
something specific from your
work that did with it.
Creativity
 Creativity
What is creativity?

The making of new things or re-arranging

the old
The ability to have your own ideas rather
than copy others

The ability to do things that are unusual

and diferent
 Creativity
Think about
Where did your original ideas come from?
Brainstorming?
Mind Maps?
Research on the web?
Special software?
Newspaper stories?
 Creativity
You may have been creative with
Locations/sets/costumes
Camera
Editing
Genre/conventions
Casting
Technology
 Creativity
Also consider these points:
Restrictions of the briefs limited
creativity
Cant be creative without first doing
practical
things like research and planning
You have to be confident in your skills
before you can develop creative ideas
The inevitable loss of faith in your
project. (weve all been there, but P.M.A
right?!)
 Maximise your marks
To get a higher grade you need to ensure that
you are not just describing how your skills
developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

How important was creativity

Why was it important
What efect did it have on your work
What couldnt you have done without it
How did you benefit from it?
 Creativity Exercise

Write short notes in this form

At AS I was creative coming up with ideas by

..
This helped me because

At A2 I was more creative coming up with

ideas by ..
This helped me because
Post production
 Post-production
What is Post- production?

In short, the editing process.

Everything that is done with editing
software after the shoot.
Does NOT include huge re-shoots. Some
pick ups are acceptable (lip sync re-shoot
for example)
 Post-Production
Think about
How did this process work?
Did you make an assemble edit?
Did you shoot a particular section
first?
Did discovering a filter / overlay /
mask change your piece?
What challenges did you have in
creating the narrative?
 Post-Production
Also consider these points:

What is the diference between editing a

sequence that works for the viewer and
just filling space on the timeline
As your confidence in editing grows, you
often feel the need to change your idea /
re-shoot. How did you manage this
process
 Maximise your marks
To get a higher grade you need to ensure that
you are not just describing how your skills
developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

How important was post-production?

Why was it important?
What efect did it have on your work?
What couldnt you have done without it?
How did you benefit from it?
 Post-Production Exercise

Write short notes in this form

At AS I showed my post-production skills by

..
This helped me because

At A2 I used more post production skills by ..

This helped me because

Research and
Planning
 Research and Planning
What is Research and Planning?

ALL of section 1, 2, 3 of your coursework

Prelims, research, Planning
 Research and Planning
Think about
How did you realise your ideas?
What Artist info did you find out?
How much did the pre-production
documents help you?
Did these plans change when you
moved through the process?
Goodwin / Dyer / any other theory
 Maximise your marks
To get a higher grade you need to ensure that
you are not just describing how your skills
developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

How important was Research and

Planning
Why was it important?
What efect did it have on your work?
What couldnt you have done without it?
How did you benefit from it?
 Creativity Exercise

Write short notes in this form

At AS my research and planning consisted of

..
This helped me because

At A2 my research and planning consisted of

..
This helped me further because
Conventions of real Media
texts
 Conventions
What are conventions of real media
texts?

MUSIC VIDEO Goodwin / Dyer ? Other

Mise en scene (CLAPS), cinematography (SLAM),
editing (TIDE)

GENERIC conventions commonalities of the

GENRE ( in this case ROCK, HIP-HOP, INDIE, POP
etc)

FORMAL conventions commonalities of the FORM

(in this case Lip Sync / music and visuals / lyrics and
 Conventions
Think about
How does your piece use generic
conventions?
Does it use them? How?
Does it develop them? How?
Does it challenge then? How?
 Conventions
There are also conventions in
relation to
Representation
Narrative
Audience
 Maximise your marks
To get a higher grade you need to ensure that
you are not just describing how your skills
developed.

You need to focus on evaluating your work.

How important was conventions?

Why were they important?
What efect did they have on your work?
What couldnt you have done without
them?
How did you benefit from understanding
them?
 Conventions Exercise

Write short notes in this form

At AS I used real media conventions by ..

This helped me because

At A2 I developed my understanding and use

of real media conventions by ..
This helped me because
THATS IT for Section A
Question 1a

P.M.A

D.I.Y

#CoolKidsRevise