Reflection Task

You will spend the next couple of lessons completing the following tasks to prepare you for discussing your coursework in terms of your exam. 

Task 1: Create an exam blog that you will complete most homework, exam prep and exam responses on.

Question 1A Prompts

Task 2:

Firstly, list all of the media products you have created since you joined Sixth Form, both in Media Studies, other subjects and at home. Re-read your AS and A2 blogs to remind you!

Digital Technology
Task 3:

1)    List all of the technologies you have used (hardware, software and online) to create these media products, including ones you have just explored but decided not to use.

2)   Group them together, e.g. all the digital editing software you have used or all of the website creation software).

3)   What skills have you learned with each of these groups in the last two years? How did you learn to use them – did you use the online help manual, Youtube video tutorials, did you elicit help from someone, trial and error?

4)   What problems did you face along the way? How did you resolve these problems? Where there were choices to make, what did you choose? How? Why? Describe your journey with these technologies over the last two years.

5)   Identify specific aspects of your productions that were impacted by using this technology, e.g. you chose to use Final Cut to allow layering as shown in xxx scene in your music video...

6)   How does easy access to simple-to-use technology impact you as a producer? What has it enabled you to do? (Remember this sort of technology has only become available in the last few years!!!)

7)   What media production technologies do you have access to at home? Does this make a difference to your confidence / ability / output?

Creativity
Task 4:

1)    What does creativity mean to you? Define it. Look it up in the dictionary too.

2)   Think about where your ideas come from. It is likely to be a combination of influences and some original thinking. Think about influences first; identify specific real world media texts, media producers, other student work (or whatever else) that has influenced you.

3)   Make clear links to specific aspects of your productions that have been influenced by each of these. How has your audience influenced you? What about your team members? How has what you have learned about postmodernism influenced you?

4)   Now think about what has been original (if there is such a thing!) in your work. Have you developed your own personal themes / style / aesthetic in your work over the last two years? How has this manifested itself in your work? Identify specific aspects of your productions to demonstrate the sue of these themes, etc.

5)   How has what you’ve done encouraged and developed your creativity over the last two years? Do you think the briefs you have been given have encouraged or subdued your creativity? Why? How? Are you able to be more creative with personal projects?

Research and Planning

Task 5:

1)    Consider first whether you are a ‘natural’ planner and a ‘natural’ researcher (they are two different things). What were your planning and research skills like two years ago? Did you value planning and research or just want to get on with creating?

2)   What planning skills have you developed in the last two years? What methods have you used? How have they impacted your work? Are there examples of times when your planning has been poor? What effect did planning have on your work? Did you change your plans? Why?

3)   What research skills have you developed in the last two years? (Think about how you’ve used your blog, the development of your textual analysis skills and audience research). What methods have you used? How have they impacted your work? Are there examples of times when your research has not been effective? What effect did research have on your work? Did you change your plans? Why?

4)   Identify specific aspects of your productions that have been impacted by your planning and research (both good and bad!) Compare your views about the value of research and planning now with those you held two years ago.

Post-Production - This links closely with digital technology

Task 6:

1)    Think about all of the post-production work you have done and the technology you have used to do it. What skills have you learned? How has your approach to post-production become more sophisticated, e.g. consider your use of sound or editing, comparing how your approach to and use of these have developed between your preliminary task and your A2 productions.

2)   How has audience feedback influenced your post-production? Did you hold focus groups, for example? What changes were made as a result of these?
Again, remember to identify specific aspects of your productions and link them to the developments in your post-production skills.

Using conventions from real texts
Task 7:

1)    What is genre and why is it important? Consider its impact on audience and institutions, in particular. What genres / sub-genres have you worked in across all of your productions? Why have you chosen to work in these genres?

2)   What real media texts did you study or were you influenced by (look at your Research and Planning notes from above)? What conventions did you observe in these real world texts? Which of them have you used in your own work? Give specific examples from your productions.

What conventions did you subvert? Why? You may wish to bring in ideas from postmodernism here too. Have you become more sophisticated and subtle in the way you use / subvert / play with conventions over the last two years? How? Give specific examples from your productions.