Final Essay Revision

Hi All

Here you go:

G325 theorist revision from Stuart Coppard

Section 1 - final lesson

Final revision lesson section 1 a2 exam from hasnmedia

G325 Theorist Revision

Hi All

Here are the notes for you G325 revision on Theorists!

Read them well and revise hard - Wednesday is Practise Exam Day!

G325 theorist revision from Stuart Coppard

Q1b - audience

Audience for section 1b from hasnmedia

Q1b - representation

Representation for section 1b from hasnmedia

Case Studies for TV Representation

Hi All

As the exam is approaching your job is to ensure you have LOTS of evidence to support your ideas!

Watch the following TV Series and make notes on:

• The representations of the characters, how they support theories and hegemony. 

• Think carefully about WHO produced the show and WHO is the target audience.

Youngers (watch series 2 each week!)
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/youngers/4od

Grange Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-ATrUuBHRs

Press Gang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tv9BCpKkp8

Misfits
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od/collections/misfits-box-set

Coming of Age
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFn_7HgWbRs&list=PLB1FA15455269E88A

My Mad Fat Diary
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/my-mad-fat-diary/4od

Skins
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/skins/4od

Educating Essex
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/educating-essex/4od

Educating Yorkshire
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/educating-yorkshire/4od

Waterloo Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKaIl7WRyls&list=PL3C30DBFADE65498C

REMEMBER if its older than 5 YEARS it is considered HISTORIC!

Music video list

If you are planning on discussing your music video as part of section 1b and need to remind yourself of some real media texts that use similar conventions, techniques, structures etc - use the list below as a source for research.

List of music videos for teaching from hasnmedia

Q1b- narrative and exam planning

Narrative and essay planning for section 1b from hasnmedia

Planning an essay answer - advice from the examiner

Check out Pete's Media blog. He has some great tips on how to structure an exam answer. They might seem obvious but we all need a reminder now and then.

See what he has to say here about general planning: http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/writing-exam-answer.html


Here you can find tips on how to approach question 1a:http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/approaching-question-1a.html

Here you can find tips on how to approach question 1b: http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/how-to-prepare-for-question-1b.html



Mrs Jones

G325 Collective Identity Lesson 6+7

Question 1 b - GENRE

Here is the powerpoint and resource from the lesson. Use this as a revision tool for question 1b.

OCR media A level - genre, section 1 exam from hasnmedia

OCR A level media Q1b genre example answer A grade from hasnmedia

Top Tips from the Chief Examiner

Hi All

Below are some handy tips from the head of OCR and all round media genius Pete Fraser of Pete's Media Magazine Blog read them carefully and check out his blog for more revision!

Top tips to prepare for exams

This is just a short post with a few top tips as exams approach!

1. Don't spend ages revising. This may be what you want to hear because you're lazy, but that's not what I mean. My view is that if you don't take things in as you go along, you won't do well in exams (at least not in Media or Film) just because you do a load of work at the end. You need to understand your subject and be able to talk about it anyway. preparing for exam questions about it should be a matter of technique and refreshing your mind about it, rather than cramming loads of information for weeks.

2. Focus your preparation completely. Know PRECISELY what you are going to be expected to do in the exam- how long the paper is, what form the questions take, how many marks are attached to them and how long you are expected to spend on each one. Know what the rules are about the questions- do you have to refer to a minimum number of texts, a variety of media, to examples from a particular period of time- whatever! all this knowledge helps you to be absolutely clear about what you need to prepare and what you can set aside. Look at past papers and past questions- if your teacher can't provide them, go online and find them- all exam boards have old papers you can download.

3. Decide what you feel most confident about using and systematically prepare that material so that you can summarise it, refer to the key arguments, mobilise specific examples to back your points and adapt it to the needs of different questions. You don't need to know EVERYTHING about a topic, but you do need to be able to be FLEXIBLE with what you do know!

4. PRACTICE writing to time. Start with some old questions and set out what your paragraphs will contain as a set of bullet points. Then just write and time yourself. How much can you cover in the time and how well does your argument work? get someone to read it, especially someone who doesn't know about the subject, and ask them if they can follow your argument and if your examples back your points up. If not, go back to what you have written and work out how to fill the gaps. If you do a few timed essays, you will get faster and if you seek advice from readers, you will get better.

5. Have some of your own examples. Don't rely on everything having been spoon fed by the teachers. Applying ideas or concepts to examples YOU have found always helps your answer to stand out from the same old stuff that everyone has half-remembered or half-understood the teacher saying.

6. Don't panic. If you prepare effectively in the short term and have taken things on board in the long term, then you have nothing to worry about. You can only do your best.

7. And finally, get the obvious things right. Know WHEN the exam is- DAY and TIME! I have known students to miss a morning exam because they assumed it was in the afternoon. Aim to be there EARLY- transport isn't always reliable. And have your PENS! When I used to invigilate, it always shocked me that there were many people in the room who had forgotten to bring pens. And during the exam, keep an eye on the clock. There is no value in spending an hour on a 25 mark question and then only half an hour on a 50 mark question. You might get full marks for the 25, but you will probably lose 25 on the 50!

G325 Collective Identity Lesson 2

Hi all

Here are the notes from today - have a read and update your books if you need to.

REMEMBER: Work on your blogs and corrections!

Exam grading criteria

Here is a copy of the exam details with a focus on Q1a and 1b.

Creativity

G325 Section B: Collective Identity L1

Hi All

Please find the lesson notes below for the start of your exam prep.

Homework: Create a Shoebox containing your 'IDENTITY' for WEDNESDAY 5th March

The countdown continues

1 DAY TO GO!

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Checking Your Coursework

Hi All,

As your coursework deadline approaches, I thought you might like to take a look at the guidance published by the exam board to see what other students have produced and what the examiners say about them:

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/as-inset-materials.html

http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/coursework-with-levels.html

Take the time to have a look at both of these links and read the comments carefully - this is your last chance to maximise YOUR final grade!

Keep working hard!

Mr Coppard

The countdown continues

4 Days to Go!

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The Final COUNTDOWN!

10 Days to GO!

EVERYTHING  that you have completed for your coursework needs to be uploaded to your blog by THURSDAY 13th February!

If it is not uploaded then you will be given a mark/ grade based on whatever is on your blog.

You have been warned!

Also, if you do not meet the deadlines above then I will be issuing you with penalty points for not meeting deadlines.

Thanks,

Mr Coppard

Final Touches to you Blog

Hi All

Just a reminder of 2 key things:

1) You must have some AUDIENCE FEEDBACK on your blogs for your rough and final work - this can be VOX POPS, SURVEYS or REACTION VIDEOS (see my earlier post on this here)

2) You need to have an EVALUATION PLANNING POST where you plan your answer to each question and what medium you plan to use (an example is here from AS) - use the post from Ms Jones below to help you

Here is the tracker to help you with your final work over Innovation Week!

A2 Tracker 5/2/14

Your final lesson with me is Friday and as a treat I will supply chocolates - please comment below with your favourite chocolate bar BEFORE Friday 8:15am so I can buy them for you. No comment, No chocolate :(

Thanks

Mr Coppard

Evaluation question resources

A2 g324 evaluation questions from hasnmedia

Final lesson evaluations a2 from hasnmedia

Audience Feedback

Hi All

The role of audience feedback is vital to your productions and evaluations - you cannot get up to a Level 4 without some feedback on your rough edits/drafts and showing how you improved them to meet your audience.

Some examples or ideas for feedback could be:

Survey Monkey Questionnaire

Reaction Video - use Screencast-o-Matic

Youtube Comments

Good luck on your feedback!

Showing your Progress

Hi All

As we creep nearer to the final deadline, I wanted to share with you some excellent examples of how to record your production steps to show your progress:

Georgina's Blog from last year can be found here: http://georginasolomonasmusic.blogspot.co.uk/

The best examples of her work are below:

Website Stages

Websites!

Hi All

Here is the final post for your production work! This is all about websites for your final Ancillary task, notes are below:

Have a look at some of these impressive artists website below to inspire you:

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2013/01/15-music-artist-websites/

http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/best-band-websites/

Pick 2 to analyse on your own blog and EXPLAIN how they reach their target audience.

The challenge has been laid down...

Hi All

Here is a link to another school who have now finished their coursework - have a browse at what they have created and use it to challenge yourselves to do better!

http://a2musicvid.blogspot.co.uk

DO NOT be tempted to plagurise from their blogs to yours - this is inspiration!!!

Keep up the hard work - the end is in site!

Album Fonts and Colourschemes

Hi Everyone

By this point, you should be well into planning your Digipaks! In case you're feeling a bit stuck creatively, here is an article for some inspiration:

http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/inspiration/typography-album-covers/

Remember to comment on your development to reach a Level 4!

Interesting Posts for Blog

Hi All

Despite what I said earlier about the death of the album art, it's not all doom and gloom!

Have a read of this Wiki entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Recording_Package.

It is interesting to note that the award goes to the Art director and not the performer!

As always, post a reaction on your blogs to work towards that Level 4!

The Death of Album Art

Hi All

Following yesterday's post about the great album art, this post is more morbid and is looking at the decline of the digipak as digital music takes over and our phones become our record collections.

• An overview of the issues: http://jonmiletbaker.com/2012/07/04/the-life-and-decline-of-cover-art/#.Utagn5GJVFk

• The Impact on Designers and Artists: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/02/05/death-album-art-what-does-demise-hmv-mean-designers-and-artists-who-work-music

You can blog about your feelings on this issue and perhaps link to the articles above for some Level 4 goodness!

Inspirational Artwork

Hi All

To help inspire your creativity I have found some links to album artwork you might want to explore. Remember to comment on any you like or dislike on your blog for some quick extra posts and work towards that level 4!

• Some of the greatest ever: http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-50-greatest-album-covers-of-all-time-44409

• A different opinion that focusses on the photography: http://www.popphoto.com/gallery/100-best-photo-album-covers

• An interesting take on the traditional album cover: http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/best-2013-animated-album-covers

Post a few to your blog or make a MY FAVOURITE ARTWORK post and write a PEA paragraph on WHY you chose an album cover

Digipaks

Hi All

Welcome back! I hope Xmas was good and the mocks not too stressful!

This will be a long post but read it all the way through to make sure you cover everything:

1) Here are the notes from todays lesson on DIGIPAKS

2) At this point, your time is your own to plan who is producing what so have a strong plan and some SMART targets to achieve your goals. Not every group member needs to work on every task!

3) The following posts should be on your blog:

Regular Production Diary Updates

Individual Digipak Explaination

Individual Digipak Analysis

Your own Digipak Analysis

Your Practice CD Cover

4) Over the next few days I will post a link to some album artwork and research - add your opinions to these posts to your blog for extra credit!

FINAL DEADLINE FOR ALL COURSEWORK:

 14th February 2014 @ 9pm!

Food for thought

Here is the video from the lesson today. A few references to music videos here but an interesting look at how women are represented across media platforms.