How to structure Question 1a and 1b

Question 1a - remember that you must talk about AS AND A2!

Paragraph 1:

• This should be an introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short, but should frame your response. Explain what you did,
• e.g. 'For my AS Foundation Portfolio, I produced a two-minute chick flick film opening and for my A2 Advanced Portfolio, I made a pop music video.'

Paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5:

• You should pick up a skill area and suggest something about your starting point with it- what skills you had already and how you used them. Use examples and have some key phrases ready, such as:
• The ‘use of iMovie helped me understand the conventions of film editing' (good for analysing how use of software links to creativity).
• Or ‘My photoshop skills improved from AS to A2 as I  became more proficient with editing material and applying filters ' (then give examples of effects you used such as colour saturation, magnetic tool, layering, etc). You need to show evidence of improvement from AS to A2 which obviously also improved your creativity.
• Or ‘At A2, I began by researching the conventions of the Indie genre. Looking at Vance Joy’s Riptide, I began to analyse how the conventions of Indie videos were used. Riptide’s mise-en-scene used a less polished camera style in order to appeal to the ‘retro’ convention of Indie music. In my music video, I emulated this…’

Paragraph 6:

• Short conclusion relating back to the question and summing up key skills you have developed in that area over the AS and A2 course. Frame your essay with another quotation from another theorist that relates to the question and confirms what you said in your introduction.

Question 1b (Choose only ONE product to write about):

Paragraph 1 Intro:

1. First, define the concept you have been given in the question. For example, for Narrative you might say that every text tells a story. Add a quotation, such as for genre, "Genre is a type" (Daniel Chandler, 2001).
2. Outline the production you've chosen to evaluate.
3. Tell the examiner you're going to discuss (x) number of ideas about the concept. Use no more than 5 theories in your answer.

Paragraph 2: 

• Using the theorists, describe some of the key features of the concept you are being asked to apply. Outline two or three of the theories/ideas of particular writers, relating them to your production.

Paragraph 3: 

• Start to apply the concept, making close reference to your product and to other examples to show how the concept is evident in it.

Paragraph 4: 

• Show ways in which ideas work in relation to three areas of your product - production, distribution and exchange - and also ways in which those ideas might not apply/could be challenged.

Paragraph 5 - Conclusion: 

• Sum up by returning to the question and, having discussed key issues, say how your product follows or challenges the conventions of that issue.