skills development booklet

AS and A2 Media Studies

Skills Development

Booklet

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Key concepts relevant to Media Studies

Representation refers to the construction in any medium (e.g. film, television, magazines) of

aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract

concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures. They may include use of stereotypes and will often focus around issues like gender, class,

ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality and regional or national identity. Genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class'. The term is widely

used in media theory to refer to a distinctive type of ‘text’. Contemporary media genres tend to relate to specific forms e.g. films are routinely classified (e.g. in television listings magazines) as

'thrillers', 'westerns' and so on - genres with which every adult in modern society is familiar. So too with television genres such as 'game shows' and 'sitcoms'. All of these genres will have conventions which are expected to occur within them e.g. westerns often end with a gun fight,

sitcoms tend to have a self-contained storyline running for the half hour episode. Narrative, in media terms, is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. Typically, a

media text will have a start, middle and end with events unfolding chronologically. This is known as ‘linear narrative’. A film that plays around with this convention, such as Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’

has a ‘non-linear narrative’. There are a number of theories of narrative. One of the most celebrated is that of Todorov who talks about states of equilibrium and disequilibrium in the

narrative. Media Language refers to written, verbal, non-verbal, aural and aesthetic communication and

usually a combination of these. in television drama, a phone conversation between two characters in different locations can only be understood by the audience because of the relationship between

the camera angles (close-ups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context), non-verbal performance (facial expressions during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the two characters say), lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow

the conversation and so that continuity is correct) and sound (both diegetic and non-diegetic). We often don’t notice these and come to expect certain styles of acting, editing, filming and sound for

certain types of programmes/films. This allows us to ‘read’ the media language as easily as we can understand our friends in conversations without having to recall the meaning of every word.

Audience is the group of consumers for whom the media text was constructed as well as anyone

else who is exposed to the text. It is often described in terms of gender, class, ethnicity and age,

particularly when referred to as a ‘target audience’. Creativity or ‘creative skills’ operates on two levels: first, the ability to use digital technologies to

make meaning so that the audience can respond easily to the text and second, the ability to engage and interest the audience. This may be by following conventions or by challenging them.

Media products emerge as a result of hundreds of creative decisions. When you analyse texts you will work out what these decisions were. When you make them, you will account for and evaluate these decisions from your own personal experience.

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Reflecting on your AS production work (coursework) At A2 you will take an exam called ‘Theoretical Evaluation of Production’, and answer a question on how your production skills have developed during the two years of the course. You will be asked to comment on how your skills have developed in one or two of the following areas:

• Digital technology

• Research and Planning

• Using Conventions from real media texts • Post-Production

• Creativity

The pages below will help you organise your thoughts on the production work we have done so far in the course, from the Preliminary task – the college magazine, to the main task, the completed music magazine.

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Digital technology here refers to both hardware (eg cameras) and software (programmes). Answer the following questions as honestly as possible: the unit asks you to reflect on how your skills have

developed during the course and is not a test of how impressive your skills are. You will be rewarded for reflecting honestly and for acknowledging problems and areas for improvement.

Begin by reflecting on how experienced a user of digital technology you were at the start of the course. In the space below, write down the names of any software or hardware you used at school

(or at home) to produce media texts. You may not have used any! If you have, briefly describe what you used the technology for (ie image manipulation, desktop publishing)

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY AS Preliminary Task Cover and Contents Page for a college magazine

Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop

Although this was only a short preliminary task, you have used Photoshop for this task and should have developed your skills sufficiently to be able to produce the front cover of a magazine.

Image manipulation

You will have used Photoshop to manipulate your central image (s) in some way, whether importing, cropping, or resizing, for example. Outline below the image manipulation skills used during this project.

In Photoshop, I cropped the main image of the front cover as the original image was larger and had more empty space in the background. I also edited the image by using the adjustments features on the software as the original image was too dark so therefore needed brightening and

colour adjustments.

When I was creating the contents page for my magazine, I had to resize the four images as in their original state the images were too large. I had to crop one of the images I used to make it the same width at some of the other photos I have used on this page to make sure that I stuck to the

rule of thirds. Also, I added a border to all of my images on this page to make them stand out against the white background.

Text manipulation

You should also have used Photoshop to create and manipulate text on your cover: changing the size, colour or position of the fonts you used, for example. Outline below the text manipulation skills you used during this project.

I manipulated text on the front cover of my magazine by changing the size of the masthead so it was larger than all of the cover lines. I also added a border to the masthead so the text didn’t blend into the image in the background.

Also, I used a border and a drop shadow on each of the cover lines as without it, they didn’t stand

out enough. Furthermore, I have changed the colour of the text on the main cover line to white while the caption that goes with it is a light blue colour. I have manipulated the text this way so the difference between the main coverline and the caption can be clearly seen.

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Another way I have manipulated the text through colour is by changing the pronoun “you” to a

white colour, while the rest of the text included in this coverline is in blue font. I did this to address the reader directly and clearly.

On the contents page, I manipulated the text by using the bold effect on the issue number and date in the strapline. I also positioned all of the text on the contents page in three separate

columns in order to follow the rule of thirds. The text in the columns in written in lowercase and doesn’t have a shadow, whereas the headings of these text boxes are in uppercase, are

underlined and have a shadow effect.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Digital stills camera

You used the digital stills camera to take your photos for this project. List below any photographic skills you have used in doing this (such as framing, focus etc)

When using a digital camera for this project, I learnt how to steady a camera with my hand so that

the image was not blurred. I also learnt how to adjust some of the camera settings to try and get the correct lighting for each of the images. However, I could have improved this skill more as some

of the photographs came out with a bad tinting to the colouring which I then had to edit in the photoshop software to correct the lighting. Other skills that I used when using a digital camera was zooming and focusing as I held the camera still after I had zoomed until the camera focused on

the main subject of the image, before taking the photo.

Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

Summarise below how pleased you are with the skills you have developed during this project. How effectively have they allowed you to produce the kind of product you wanted to produce? What

further skills would you like to develop using these programmes?

During this project, I used a digital camera to take my original images for my magazine. When using this item of technology, I learnt how to set up the mise-en-scene, which helped me produce

a successful medium close up for my front cover. However, I would have liked to develop these skills more as I have not used direct address in my main image and I did not get the lighting correct in the photo.

I am pleased with the photoshop skills I have developed as I have used a variety of fonts on the

front cover and I have also used a number of different font sizes. These skills have effectively helped me to produce the product that I wanted to create as the main cover line is clearly displayed in larger text than the remaining cover lines, and is therefore more noticeable. However,

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in the next project I am going to need to use a wider range of text fonts, as I chose many similar

looking fonts to use on the front page this time.

Another skill that helped me with creating the front cover of this project was the rule of thirds. I would like to develop this skill more in the future as I used this skill very basically this time, and consequently didn’t position the texts in the places that follow this rule.

Furthermore, when creating the contents page for this project, I used rule of thirds more

proficiently by splitting the page into 3 separate columns. This feature helped me to produce the product I wanted too as the layout is clearly structured and is easy to understand.

I have used my skills in photoshop to follow one of the codes and conventions of a contents page by making the page numbers larger than the rest of the text so they are more noticeable. This skill

was used proficiently, however I would like to develop this by making the page numbers slightly smaller when they are on top of images, as they can hide quite a large amount of the image.

The Photoshop software helped me to produce the final product that I wanted too as I developed the skills to insert jpeg images. This meant that I could include 4 images on this page of my

student magazine, which fulfils one of the requirements. On the other hand, one of the images I included on the contents page was not bright enough and I would have liked to develop my photoshop skills so that I could have edited the lighting on just a single layer of the PSD. If I had

developed this skill, this would have made the images on the contents page to an excellent standard.

I have included 2 strap lines on the contents page, one across the top of the page and one positioned across the bottom. This made the magazine to an excellent standard as they were both

used effectively to show the reader important information like the date, masthead, website, social links etc.


AS Main Task: Music magazine cover, contents page, double page article.

Your music magazine is the main task you will do at AS, and as a result you should have developed your skills in Photoshop and in-design significantly from the preliminary task. The

questions below are designed to help you record and reflect on this. Images

First, reflect on your use of the digital stills camera for your photographs. Summarise below how your skills in the use of the digital camera have developed from the preliminary task (this refers to taking photos, not image manipulation. Think about mise-en-scene, framing etc.)

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Music Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop

Begin by looking back at the comments you made about how you used Photoshop for your college

magazine. Then consider how you have developed your skills for this exercise. Image Manipulation:

Outline below the new image manipulation skills you have developed during this project. Say what you used the skills to achieve and how pleased you are with the results.

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Text manipulation

Outline below the new skills you have developed during the production of your cover. Think about all of the text manipulation you might have done, such as shadowing, etc. Again describe why you

used each technique and how pleased you are with the results.

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Summary: How useful do you feel Photoshop was in enabling you to produce your magazine cover? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to develop?

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY Music magazine: InDesign

You will have used InDesign to produce your contents page for your music magazine and also for

the production of your article. Use the space below to outline and reflect on any new skills you have developed.

Layout

Comment on how you used in-design to layout your pages, using text boxes, columns, etc.

Comment on specific tools you used and on how useful you found the programme to be.

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Text

Comment on how you used InDesign to position and manipulate text. Describe specific techniques you used and evaluate their usefulness for the tasks you were set (ie production of contents pages

and article).

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Summary:

Summary: How useful do you feel InDesign was in enabling you to produce your contents page

and your article? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to develop?

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Skills2: Research and Planning

For both your Preliminary and Main coursework tasks, you undertook both secondary and primary

research. Below, you are required to reflect on this, beginning with the Preliminary task.

College magazine.

Although your college magazine was a preliminary task, you should have carried out some research in order to allow you to complete the task.

Outline below what your research objectives were for this task: ie exactly what it was that you needed to find out.

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Outline below and discuss the usefulness of the research methods that you used during the

production of the college magazine.

Skills2: Research and Planning Was the research that you carried out sufficient to allow you to complete the task to a satisfactory

standard?

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How might you improve your research skills next time?

Skills2: Research and Planning Outline below the planning tools you used for this task and reflect on their usefulness

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Music Magazine.

Your main task is a more detailed task and as a result you should have developed and used more advanced and sophisticated research skills. You need to outline and reflect on these below.

Audience Research

Before producing your magazine you were required to carry out research into the tastes and interests of your audience in order to help you produce a magazine that would appeal to them. Summarise the aims and objectives of your audience research below:

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Outline the research methods you used for audience research (ie questionnaires, focus groups).

Outline the different styles of questioning you employed (ie open/closed) and talk about the strengths and weaknesses of each style.


How did you select your sample? Reflect on this.

How did you present your findings (graphs, etc.)? Reflect on this.

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It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel you could improve your audience research for your next piece of production work? Set clear targets for this.


Topic Research

In addition to carrying out audience research you should also have carried out research into the particular genre or area of music that you made your magazine about. Outline and reflect on this

below.

Begin by outlining your research objectives. What exactly was it that you wanted to find out?

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Internet Research.

Outline below the websites you used for your research, indicating how useful you found each to be

and summarising what you found from each site.

How did you check the validity and reliability of your findings?

List and reflect on the usefulness of any other research methods you used for your topic research below.


It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel

you could improve your topic research for your next piece of production work? Set clear targets for this, eg Next time I will ensure that each fact I use will have been cited by at least 2 sources.

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Skills 3 Using Conventions from real media texts

All Media genres have set of conventions that the audience expect to find in them: in a Science Fiction film, for example, we expect a certain type of setting plus spaceships, aliens, explosions, possibly battles in space. These conventions develop, however, as Media producers challenge

some of the traditional conventions of texts. In the film ‘Psycho’, for example. Alfred Hitchcock unsettled and surprised his audience by having the character played by the films main star killed

after 30 minutes: something Horror audiences at the time didn’t expect to happen in a horror film (or in any film, come to that.)

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Before you produce any Media text you will need an understanding of the conventions of that

particular genre. This unit asks you to reflect on how you have done this and how your ability to follow, or develop, the codes and conventions of the media texts you will produce has improved

during the course. College magazine

Write below the codes and conventions of college magazines. Indicate how and why you have either used, ignored or developed these in your magazine.

Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts Music Magazine

Before starting to produce your music magazine you should have spent time discussing the codes and conventions of the genre in lessons. You should also, individually, have researched examples of the specific kind of music magazine you decided to produce individually. Below you should

discuss what you found the main codes and conventions of your text to be, in terms of style and content. You should then reflect on the extent to which you have followed these codes and

conventions and also comment on any codes and conventions that you have not followed or have tried to challenge or subvert, explaining why you have done this. Front Cover

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Use the grid below to reflect on how you have used or developed the codes and conventions of

music magazine covers. List the main conventions and then comment on how you have used them in your cover – eg I used 2 ‘Free offer’ splashes on my cover as I feel they are important in

attracting readers in a competitive market. Conventions: Content

Convention Comment

Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts

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Conventions: Style

Convention Comment

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Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts Now do the same for your contents pages and for your article Conventions: Content page content

Convention Comment

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Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts Conventions: contents page style

Convention Comment

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Conventions: article content

Convention Comment

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Conventions: Article style

Convention Comment

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Skills4 Post Production For this section of the unit you are required to describe and reflect on the post-production activities you have carried out. This refers to areas such as gaining audience feedback on your products and successfully evaluating how you have worked.

College Magazine:

Outline below any methods you used to gain audience feedback (ie questionnaires, focus groups). Summarise your findings

Outline below any evaluation that took place after you completed your production. Reflect on your conclusion and the methods you used.

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Skills4 Post Production Music Magazine

For your music magazine you should have spent longer on the post-production stage. Below you should reflect on this. Audience feedback

Briefly summarise why it is important to gain audience feedback on a production. To what use might the data be put?

Outline below the aims and objectives of your audience feedback. What information were you

trying to obtain?

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Skills4 Post Production

Now describe the methods you used to gain audience feedback on your product (ie questionnaires, focus groups). Outline the methods of questioning you used within your

questionnaires (ie open/closed/restricted choices) and reflect honestly on how productive these methods were.

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Skills4 Post Production Summarise below your findings from your audience feedback. Having looked at this, how do you

feel you could improve the quality of audience feedback you receive next time? Set clear targets, based on your experience this time around.

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Skills4 Post Production Evaluation

Outline below the methods you used to produce an evaluation for this production (ie powerpoint presentation, essay) How useful and appropriate was this method?

How reflective do you feel you were in your evaluation?

How do you feel you might improve the quality of your evaluation for your next production?

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Skills5: Creativity College Magazine

Here you are required to reflect on your creativity during the production tasks you produce on the course. This refers to your ability to create original and good quality products.

How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you especially pleased with?

Reflect below on the ‘creative process’ – ie how you came up with your ideas

(brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting).

What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?

Music magazine

How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you

especially pleased with?

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Skills5: Creativity

Reflect below on the ‘creative process’ – ie how you came up with your ideas (brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting). This may be an assessment of how you organised the photography, how you used the photographs, how you organised your

layouts, the language you used, the way you drew attention to certain elements etc

What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?

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