Your Blog Contents

Your blog should contain the following:

1. Resarch into similar media texts
2. Research into target audience
3. Planning of Preliminary task
4. Production of Preliminary task
5. The Preliminary text
6. Planning for the main task
7. Production of the main task
8. The main task
9. Evaluation and Analysis materia

Details of how each of these break down are listed here:

1. RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR MEDIA TEXTS

You need to establish the codes and conventions of existing media texts similar to the ones you are producing. If you are producing, for example, a magazine, then I would recommend at least five magazines be analysed. Of these five, at leat one should be a college magazine (like the preliminary task) and at least two should be music magazines (like the main task).

You must insure that you analyse all the relevant components. So, for example, front covers of magazines are not sufficient. You should also exmaine the contents pages and double-page spreads of the magazines.

All relevant codes and convnetions, i.e. the rules of the medium that you have observed and will be following, should be listed as bullet points as a research summary.

2. RESEARCH INTO TARGET AUDIENCE

Using extensive market data (sales figures, patterns of demographics, questionaires, etc.) you must establish what the target demographic of your text is, and what implications that has on the construction of the text.

All relevant findings should be summarised in bullet points at the end of the section

3. PLANNING THE PRELIMINARY TASK

There needs to be some evidence of planning of the preliminary text. This should be in the form of storyboards, drafts or scripts.

6. PRODUCTION OF THE PRELIMINARY TASK

You need to evidence how you constructed the preliminary task. This should show organisation of time, equipment, resources, etc. Also you need to show how you gained your source material (possibly evidencing original sounds, photos, etc.) Screenshots and discussion of how the project is constructed should also be included.

5. THE PRELIMINARY TASK

You need to keep access to the original preliminary task on the computer on which it was constructed. Howecer, a copy should be included on the blog.

6. PLANNING THE MAIN TASK

This needs to be done in much more detail that the preliminary task. Drafts need to be more detailed, and mock-up page spreads could be made. Animatic storyboards should be created and included. A shooting script, listing all the sources of material, shouls be written. You could include a video diary or report detailing your planning.

7. PRODUCTION OF THE MAIN TASK

Using screen shots, explain how you constaructed your main task. This will cover how you gained the source material (i.e. the film footage, photos, text, or sound recordings), how you used IT to construct the text and how you exported in it the finished format. The aim is to prove exactly what you have done, and that you did it yourself, intentionally.

8. THE MAIN TASK

The completed magazine pages, film or radio clip must be exported into the correct format, in the correct size and incorporated into your blog.

9. EVALUATION AND ANALYSIS MATERIAL

You must cover the following areas, answering the questions:

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression fromit to the full product?

You should use a range of formats on your blog: Written, visual, audio, video, slide show, etc.

Try to include some audience feedback.

Make sure you use the correct Medium-specific vocabulary where ever possible.

The Tasks

PRINT

Preliminary exercise:
Using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of anew school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid-out text and a masthead.

Additionally candidates must produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

Main task:
The front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine

All images and text used must be original, produced by the candidate(s), minimum of four images per candidate.


VIDEO

Preliminary exercise:
Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

Main task:
The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.


AUDIO

Preliminary exercise:
The introductory music/jingle for a show on the radio with a presenter introducing and greeting their guest (who must respond) and playing an archive sound clip relating to the guest (approximately 30-40 seconds duration in total).
This exercise is to demonstrate understanding of sound editing and mixing and conventions of radio.

Main task:
A five minute news bulletin (local radio) to include title music, presenter, specialist reporters, OBs, recorded interview, a vox pop and appropriate sound fx and structure.
All audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or
audio effects from a copyright-free source.


WEBSITE

Preliminary exercise:
A new homepage for a school/college. This should include a photo of the institution, buttons to provide easy navigation to other areas of the site and appropriate welcoming text. There should also be a working hyperlink to a media department page, also with a photo.
The task aims to demonstrate understanding of the software and of webpage conventions.

Main task:
Produce a campaign website including sound and video for a campaign (eg political, health, charity, environmental).
The site should include a logo, original photographs, written text, audio, video and easy navigation. All material for both tasks to be produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of musical audio effects from a copyright-free source.