Wednesday 30 December 2009
OCR A2 G325: Critical Perspectives in Media - Exam Question Help
After Christmas your work in class will be clearly defined into two areas.
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues
Below is a very brief overview of the requirements for Section A
A2 G325 Critical Perspectives in Media
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues
Below is a very brief overview of the requirements for Section A
A2 G325 Critical Perspectives in Media
Thursday 17 December 2009
A2 Levels
Your A2 practical work (excluding planning and evaluation) is marked out of 50. There is a maximum of 40 marks for the main task and a maximum of 10 marks for the Subsidiary Task.
Main Task Subsidiary Task
Level One 0-14 marks 0-3 marks
Level Two 15-23 marks 4-6 marks
Level Three 24-31 marks 7-8 marks
Level Four 32-40 marks 9-10 marks
A sense of identity across the tasks is essential.
Main Task Subsidiary Task
Level One 0-14 marks 0-3 marks
Level Two 15-23 marks 4-6 marks
Level Three 24-31 marks 7-8 marks
Level Four 32-40 marks 9-10 marks
A sense of identity across the tasks is essential.
Saturday 5 December 2009
Encoding Videos for Youtube Uploading (adapted from Media Monkey)
Attention all Students,
So you want to upload your vids? Firstly you have to do a process called 'encoding' this turns the digial video format into something that YouTube can understand; .MPG .MOV, or .AVI files are acceptable. However, the best quality videos are the following:
So you want to upload your vids? Firstly you have to do a process called 'encoding' this turns the digial video format into something that YouTube can understand; .MPG .MOV, or .AVI files are acceptable. However, the best quality videos are the following:
- MPEG4 (Divx, Xvid) format
- 320x240 resolution
- MP3 audio
- 30 Frames Per Second (FPS)
- File>Export
- Select 'Expert Settings' from the 'Compress To' drop-down list
- Click 'Share'
- Select 'Export Movie to MPEG-4
- Click 'Options'
- Select: Video Format 'MPEG-4 improved'
- Select: Image Size '320 x 240 QVGA'
- Select: Frame Rate '30'
- Click 'Audio' Tab
- Select: Audio Format 'AAC-LC (Music)
- Select: Data Rate '128 kbps'
- Click 'OK'
- Confirm where your encoded file will be saved to and the file name.
- Click 'Save'
Wednesday 2 December 2009
Inspiration-Colour and Visuals
Thanks to Mr Ford for these websites
Colour Lovers is a very interesting site that will help you with colour ideas. Have a look at the palettes on display and post some in your blog as inspiration for your own colour choices. It is really important that you make informed decisions about colour. don't just leave it to chance.
Creative Review is a brilliant websit site that will help you with your visual ideas. It is worth taking the time to explore it fully. As i showed you with the Guinness Surfer presentation, inspiration can come from unlikely sources.
Click on logos to go to websites (also see link list).Thursday 26 November 2009
Music video blog link
This is an example of a student's A2 c/w from the OCR exam board. The music video would achieve a top C/low B - some great shots and editing although mise en scene is not always well thought out. The digipak would score 3/10 as only a DVD cover has been produced. The poster is 3/10 - poor planning.
Thursday 19 November 2009
AS RE-TAKE FOR KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS IS WEDNESDAY 13TH JANUARY AT 1PM
Revision sessions after school 3.30 - 4.45pm in H2:
Institutions and Audiences = Thursday 3rd Dec and Thursday 7th Jan
TV Drama = Thursday 10th Dec
Institutions and Audiences = Thursday 3rd Dec and Thursday 7th Jan
TV Drama = Thursday 10th Dec
Thursday 8 October 2009
Useful Theory if You Are Making An Advert
It is useful to note how directly a depicted person gazes out of the frame. A number of authors have explored this issue in relation to advertising in particular.
In study of women magazine adverts, Trevor Millum distinguished these forms of attention:
attention directed towards other people
attention directed to an object
attention directed to oneself
attention directed to reader/ camera
attention directed into middle distance, as in a state of reverie
direction or object of attention not discernable (cant make it out).
Relationships between those depicted:
reciprocal attention- directed at each other
divergent attention- directed at different things
object-oriented attention- both looking at the same thing
semi-reciprocal attention- attention of one person is on the other, whose attention is elsewhere.
Music Videos - General Theory
Music Video General Theory
Lyrics establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning. Meaning is presented more through visuals.
Tempo of music drives the editing.
Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.
Camerawork impacts meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate).
Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing.
Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure of the audience.
Intertextuality is often present. Intertextuality is the shaping of a texts’ meanings by other texts. Not all audiences will spot a reference to another text, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and gain a sense of fulfillment by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. Many music videos draw upon cinema. Some examples are: Madonna’s Material Girl drew on the song sequence Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend in Howard Hawk’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.2Pac and Dr Dre’s California Love, which referenced George Miller’s Mad Max Exhibitionism is often present.
Exhibitionist is the psychological need and pattern of behavior involving the exposure of parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to attract the attention of another in an open display. The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualized gaze.
Lyrics establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning. Meaning is presented more through visuals.
Tempo of music drives the editing.
Genre might be reflected in types of mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.
Camerawork impacts meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate).
Editing is done in fast cuts, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing, so ensuring multiple viewing.
Digital effects often enhance editing, which manipulates the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure of the audience.
Intertextuality is often present. Intertextuality is the shaping of a texts’ meanings by other texts. Not all audiences will spot a reference to another text, which would not significantly detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but greater pleasure might be derived by those who recognise the reference and gain a sense of fulfillment by this. It also increases the audience’s engagement with, and attentiveness to the product. Many music videos draw upon cinema. Some examples are: Madonna’s Material Girl drew on the song sequence Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend in Howard Hawk’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.2Pac and Dr Dre’s California Love, which referenced George Miller’s Mad Max Exhibitionism is often present.
Exhibitionist is the psychological need and pattern of behavior involving the exposure of parts of the body to another person with a tendency toward an extravagant, usually at least partially sexually inspired behavior to attract the attention of another in an open display. The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualized gaze.
Music Video Theorists
Andrew Goodwin’s Theory
Visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics and music.
Genres often have their own music style/iconography (the typical depiction in images of a subject, and related sense.
Close-ups should always be included.
The artist/band might want to develop their own star iconography, which becomes their star image (identify).
Voyeurism (the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing, sexual activity usually considered to be of a private nature) is a common theme within music videos.
Intertextual references are also popular.
Goodwin argues that the female performer is frequently objectified principally for display purposes, often through a combination of camerawork and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualized treatment of the star.
Steve Archer’s Theory
There needs to be a strong and coherent relationship between narrative and performance in music promos.
Music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band.
A carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor.
John Stewart’s Theory
The music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face.
He sees visual reference in music video as coming from a range of sources, although the three most frequent are perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography.
Stewart’s description of the music video as ‘incorportating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the essence of Intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings.
The video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can. The mise-en-scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle.
Sigmund Freud’s Theory
Refers to the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object (preferably when the object is unaware of being watched).
Laura Mulvey’s Theory
Because filmmakers are predominantly male, the presence of women in films is often solely for the purposes of display (rather than for narrative purposes).
The purpose of this displace is to facilitate a voyeuristic response in spectators, which presumes a ‘male gaze’ one that is a powerful controlling gaze at the female on display, who is effectively objectified and passive.
Visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics and music.
Genres often have their own music style/iconography (the typical depiction in images of a subject, and related sense.
Close-ups should always be included.
The artist/band might want to develop their own star iconography, which becomes their star image (identify).
Voyeurism (the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing, sexual activity usually considered to be of a private nature) is a common theme within music videos.
Intertextual references are also popular.
Goodwin argues that the female performer is frequently objectified principally for display purposes, often through a combination of camerawork and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualized treatment of the star.
Steve Archer’s Theory
There needs to be a strong and coherent relationship between narrative and performance in music promos.
Music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band.
A carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor.
John Stewart’s Theory
The music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face.
He sees visual reference in music video as coming from a range of sources, although the three most frequent are perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography.
Stewart’s description of the music video as ‘incorportating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the essence of Intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate both nostalgic associations and new meanings.
The video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can. The mise-en-scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle.
Sigmund Freud’s Theory
Refers to the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object (preferably when the object is unaware of being watched).
Laura Mulvey’s Theory
Because filmmakers are predominantly male, the presence of women in films is often solely for the purposes of display (rather than for narrative purposes).
The purpose of this displace is to facilitate a voyeuristic response in spectators, which presumes a ‘male gaze’ one that is a powerful controlling gaze at the female on display, who is effectively objectified and passive.
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Thursday 1 October 2009
Copyright free music sites
Copyright free sites (Note: not all music is free to download from copyright free sites – there are download fees)
http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/Copyright-friendly+music+and+sound
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/
http://audiojungle.net/
http://www.musicmediatracks.com/?gclid=CK6V-r7ZiJgCFUse3god7XQJCw
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/free.html
http://freeplaymusic.com/ (free downloads)
http://www.trackline.com/acatalog/Tracks.html
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/documentary-general-production.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Sound_Files/Samples_and_Loops/
http://www.freesound.org/ (free music)
http://www.mobygratis.com/film-music.html (teacher needs to register for this one)
http://www.ljudo.com/default.asp?lang=tEnglish&do=it
http://www.jamendo.com/en
http://derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/
http://www.acoustica.com/sounds.htm
http://www.alcljudprod.se/english/ljud.php
Many, many more sites are available just ‘Google’ ‘copyright free music audio download’ or ‘free audio editor software’
http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com/Copyright-friendly+music+and+sound
http://www.shockwave-sound.com/
http://audiojungle.net/
http://www.musicmediatracks.com/?gclid=CK6V-r7ZiJgCFUse3god7XQJCw
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/free.html
http://freeplaymusic.com/ (free downloads)
http://www.trackline.com/acatalog/Tracks.html
http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/documentary-general-production.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Sound_Files/Samples_and_Loops/
http://www.freesound.org/ (free music)
http://www.mobygratis.com/film-music.html (teacher needs to register for this one)
http://www.ljudo.com/default.asp?lang=tEnglish&do=it
http://www.jamendo.com/en
http://derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/
http://www.acoustica.com/sounds.htm
http://www.alcljudprod.se/english/ljud.php
Many, many more sites are available just ‘Google’ ‘copyright free music audio download’ or ‘free audio editor software’
Wednesday 30 September 2009
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Sunday 20 September 2009
How to improve your Blog with widgets
Widgets are applications you can add to your blog to make it more user friendly and enable you to show off more of your work that you might be hosting elsewhere.
Simply enter this url into your navigation bar.
http://mashable.com/2007/09/06/widgets-2/
Simply enter this url into your navigation bar.
http://mashable.com/2007/09/06/widgets-2/
Monday 14 September 2009
Sunday 13 September 2009
What makes a good Blog
10 tips
1. Post regularly and avoid long gaps (unless these are accounted for)
2. Provide ongoing evidence of group work as specified in the coursework tasks, including actor and location photos, inspirational videos and tracks, video clips of test shots, plans, schedules etc
3. Post evidence of development, change and progress including diary style summaries of your ongoing progress as a group
4. Remember to give your blog post a proper title.
5. You need to show lots of communication between the various group members, with regular posts from all group members, including reactions/suggestions/new ideas/arrangements etc.
6. Include links to the main blog, and the group members blogs
7. Upload your work in progress as you go: storyboards/moodboards/mp3s/youtube clips etc
8. Label all posts, use a labels list
9. Availability of the correct tools for editing posts, browsing etc
10 Develop your own blog style to represent you as a group, include a group/individual photo.
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