To do this you'll need to use Photoshop and import the jpeg into iMovie. To ensure that you do this correctly follow Miss Sutton's instructions
Monday, 22 February 2010
Creating a Film Ident
To do this you'll need to use Photoshop and import the jpeg into iMovie. To ensure that you do this correctly follow Miss Sutton's instructions
Monday, 15 February 2010
Scribd documents for A2
http://www.scribd.com/api_5814_user340683
I've not had chance to read and assess the quality of what they've produced but that shouldn't stop you from reviewing their work. You are primarily interested in anything labeled G325.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Narrative and your text
Organisation of your answer
Essay form - somewhere between 800 and 1000 words is good. If you're stuck for ideas try this structure.
Introduction
What is the decoding process? How do audiences engage in it consciously/unconsciously? Does your narrative follow conventions or challenge existing conventions
Main body paragraphs
In the order that you think is appropriate, you should write a paragraph on each of the following
- Your text and Todorov - how do you play with/follow the audience's expectation of the equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium pattern?
- Your text & Barthes - how do action and enigma codes work within your text(s)? How do they help drive the narrative on?
- Your text & Propp - What are our expectations of character? How do your characters fullfil Propps character roles?
- Your text & Levi-Strauss - What binary oppositions are present in your text(s), and how do they help our understanding of it? Does the audience's grasp of right/wrong change? (Clue: make strong connections between this paragraph and the one on Propp or Barthes depending on how this has been achieved)
- Your text and Symbolic Codes - Does each sequence has a memento - a significant object which provides a link forward and back? How do these objects help us understand the narrative (fabula) ie how can they be said to help construct it?
How DO audiences decode the narrative? Why does it make sense?
Length: 800-1000 words
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Friday, 8 January 2010
Monday, 4 January 2010
Genre Evaluation
D.I.Y. Generic analysis
The following questions are offered as basic guidelines for students analysing their coursework in relation to genre. This is a potential question in Section B of your summer examination. Note that an analysis of a text which is framed exclusively in terms of genre may be of limited usefulness. Generic analysis can also, of course, involve studying the genre more broadly. This is something we simply don't have time to do in class so you will need to spend time outside of class doing this (although you will hopefully have done lots of this when planning your production).- General
- In what context did you encounter it? (web, film, TV etc)
- What influence do you think this context might have had on your interpretation of the text?
- To what genre did you initially assign the text?
- What is your experience of this genre?
- What subject matter and basic themes is the text concerned with?
- How typical of the genre is this text in terms of content?
- What expectations do you have about texts in this genre?
- Have you found any formal generic labels for this particular text (where)?
- What generic labels have others given the same text?
- Which conventions of the genre do you recognize in the text?
- To what extent does this text stretch the conventions of its genre?
- Where and why does the text depart from the conventions of the genre?
- Which conventions seem more like those of a different genre (and which genre(s))?
- What familiar motifs or images are used?
- Which of the formal/stylistic techniques employed are typical/untypical of the genre?
- What institutional constraints are reflected in the form of the text?
- What relationship to 'reality' does the text lay claim to?
- Whose realities does it reflect?
- What purposes does the genre serve?
- In what ways are these purposes embodied in the text?
- To what extent did your purposes match these when you engaged with the text?
- What ideological assumptions and values seem to be embedded in the text?
- What pleasures does this genre offer to you personally?
- What pleasures does the text appeal to (and how typical of the genre is this)?
- Did you feel 'critical or accepting, resisting or validating, casual or concentrated, apathetic or motivated' (and why)?
- Which elements of the text seemed salient because of your knowledge of the genre?
- What predictions about events did your generic identification of the text lead to (and to what extent did these prove accurate)?
- What inferences about people and their motivations did your genre identification give rise to (and how far were these confirmed)?
- How and why did your interpretation of the text differ from the interpretation of the same text by other people?
- Mode of address
- What sort of audience was your text aimed at (and how typical was this of the genre)?
- How does the text address your classmates?
- What sort of person does it assume they are?
- What assumptions have you made about their class, age, gender and ethnicity?
- What interests does it assume they have?
- What relevance does the text actually have for you?
- What knowledge does it take for granted?
- To what extent do you resemble the 'ideal reader' that the text seeks to position you as?
- Are there any notable shifts in the text's mode of address (and if so, what do they involve)?
- What responses does the text seem to expect from your audience?
- How open to negotiation is their response (are they invited, instructed or coerced to respond in particular ways)?
- Is there any penalty for not responding in the expected ways (think in terms of enjoyment for the audience or consequences for the institution)?
- To what extent did people find themselves 'reading against the grain' of the text and the genre?
- Which attempts to position your audience in this text do they accept, reject or seek to negotiate (and why)?
- How closely aligned is the way in which the text addresses you with the way in which the genre positions you (Kress 1988, 107)?
- Relationship to other texts
- What intertextual references are there in the text you have created (and to what other texts)?
- Generically, which other texts does the text you created resemble most closely?
- What key features are shared by these texts?
- What major differences do you notice between them?
Evaluation Questions
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
E.g. Here you need to analyse at least 9 key shots from your main task and write about: generic conventions you’ve applied or subverted, your use of camera work, lighting, music, mise en scene, intertextuality, shots which show you’ve watched similar media texts. Pick key features from your ancillary tasks and do the same.
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
E.g. Here you should provide background information to your products detailing what kind of image you hoped to create and your main aims behind creating the campaign. You should mention: research, narrative, use of colour, text, font, images, sound and how they link. Evaluate your pieces by considering what worked well and what you’d change if you could.
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
E.g. Initial feedback you received from peers, teachers and social networking sites and what you did about it
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
List all of the equipment you used and how it helped you – what would you have had to do if you didn’t have access to it? Include screengrabs of the programmes you used.
You must answer all of the questions in as much detail as possible.
You should include a variety of different ways to answer your questions as you will be assessed on your presentation e.g. screengrabs, scribd, director’s commentary, JPEG files, slideshare etc
see http://musicvideomattleonowicz.blogspot.com/ for examples of these ways
Mark scheme:
Level 1 0–7 marks
There is minimal understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is minimal understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is minimal understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is minimal understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is minimal skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is minimal ability to communicate.
There is minimal use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
Level 2 8–11 marks
There is basic understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is basic understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is basic understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is basic understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is basic skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is basic ability to communicate.
There is basic use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
Level 3 12–15 marks
There is proficient understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is proficient understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is proficient understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is proficient understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is proficient skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is proficient ability to communicate.
There is proficient use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
Level 4 16–20 marks
There is excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions.
There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
There is excellent skill in choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
There is excellent ability to communicate.
There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
OCR A2 G325: Critical Perspectives in Media - Exam Question Help
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
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)
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
Thursday, 19 November 2009
AS RE-TAKE FOR KEY MEDIA CONCEPTS IS WEDNESDAY 13TH JANUARY AT 1PM
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
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
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
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’