PREPARE FOR MARKING

Use the following instructions to ensure that your blog is ready for marking.

1st: Chatham and Clarendon Media Studies Blog: BLOG CONTENT 

Look carefully at this post. Ensure that your have formatted the blog correctly and that you have included the right elements in the right place. LABEL EVERYTHING WITH CARE. You should be asking yourself: will the examiner understand what he or she is looking at?

2nd: Complete/Incomplete

In each section of your blog, the first word should either be COMPLETE or INCOMPLETE. If you feel that you have finished this section and that it is ready for marking, please write COMPLETE. If you know that it is not finished, please write INCOMPLETE and give me a date for when you think it will be ready to mark.

3rd: Third Party View

Ask at least one other person in the group to access your blog and read through it. First and foremost, get them to ensure that they have access to everything you have posted on your blog. If you have something that requires them to log in to something you need to find a better way to display your work. Next, get them to review how clearly you have explained what you have included. If you need to improve your labelling, do that immediately. 

4th: Chatham and Clarendon Media Studies Blog: REVIEW YOUR STATEMENT OF INTENT

As the title of the post suggests, review the content of your Statement of Intent.

REVIEW YOUR STATEMENT OF INTENT

Return to your Statement of Intent and check that it accurately reflects your intentions. To some extent your final mark is contingent upon:

i) The quality of your intentions.

ii) The extent to which you have fulfilled those intentions. 

Look at the following advice and make any relevant changes to your Statement of Intent.

1st: Formatting. 

Your SOI should start with the following question: 

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? ( approx. 400 words) 

You should then have the label Production - Music Video or Production - Magazine

This should be followed by approximately 200 - 250 words about your intentions regarding your production.

Next you should have the label Website

This should be followed by approximately 200 words about your intentions regarding your website.

Next, you should have the following question:

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words)

This should be followed by approximately 100 words about your intentions regarding digital convergence between your productions and your website.

2nd: Contents - Question 1.

To help you write this section, consider the following questions:

1: What conventions of existing media have you selected to include in your production?

NB: These should cover Media Language, Representation and Audience Theory and should be directly related to your research. 

2: What conventions of existing media have you chosen to break/subvert in your production?

NB: These should also cover Media Language and Representation, but your choice to break or subvert the conventions should be directly related to audience. 

Take a look at page 15 or 16 of the briefs to see some of the things that the exam board suggests you should be considering. 

3rd: Contents - Section 2

To help you write this section, consider the following questions:

1: What is the industrial relationship between your production and your website?

2: What will you include in your production to direct your audience to your website?

3: What will you include in your website to direct your audience to your production?

4: What will you include across both to establish clear brand identity?

Take a look at page 17 of the briefs to see some of the things that the exam board suggest you should be considering.

4th: Third Party Check

Have another member of the class read through your SOI. They should be looking for clarity, for formatting and to check if your intentions align with your research. Once they have checked it and given you the thumbs up, go to the top of your post and write COMPLETE.

BLOG CONTENT

If you are ever unsure about the content of your blog, refer back to this post. I will be posting more detailed explanation of each section, with links to secondary posts as we go along. Check back for updates at the start of each wee,

Your blog should contain the following labels. Please note that I have changed the order of some things since we started the coursework. This is an easy thing to change.

01 Coursework Brief

02 Research - Production

03 Research - Website

04 Statement of Intent

05 Planning - Production

06 Planning - Website

07 Completed - Production

08 Completed - Website

Essays

Practice Briefs   

Below is a brief explanation of what should be contained in each section.

01 Coursework Brief

Start by choosing one of the four briefs. You can only work on one and it is important that you don't change your mind once you have started, unless you have a very good reason. We will spend some time talking through the briefs and you should ideally have an annotated version of the brief to help you keep track of your thinking. This could be something that you annotate physically as we go through the briefs (I will give you a printed version) or annotate virtually and then upload. Alternatively you can copy and paste the content of the text and then make annotations as we discuss.

02 Research - Production

This should contain two posts:  Production Inspiration and Production Codes and Conventions

Production Inspiration

This post should contain links to any existing media that you have looked at for inspiration. This could be anything from magazine covers and contents pages, to links to TV shows, to music videos etc. The objective is to gather everything into one place so that you can refer back to your research easily.

Production Codes and Conventions

This post should contain a PowerPoint or Video essay that functions as a list of conventions that you have discovered while researching existing media content. You don't need to use all of these conventions, but you should identify the ones you intend to use and the ones you intend to break.

When creating your list you should consider the following questions:

• How is mise en scene used to communicate ideas to the target audience?
• How is editing/layout and design used to communicate ideas to the target audience? 
• What is the messaging around representation and how does this appeal to the target audience?
• How is/are narrative/s constructed?

NB: This should also include anything you have noticed that encourages convergence.

03 Research - Website

This should contain two posts:  Website Inspiration and Website Codes and Conventions

Website Inspiration

This post should contain links to any existing media that you have looked at for inspiration.  You can post simple links to websites, but it would be a good idea to screenshot anything that you want to be able to access again easily because webpages change. The objective is to gather everything into one place so that you can refer back to your research easily.

Website Codes and Conventions

This post should contain a PowerPoint that functions as a list of conventions that you have discovered while researching existing media content. You don't need to use all of these conventions, but you should identify the ones you intend to use and the ones you intend to break.

When creating your list you should consider the following questions:

• How is mise en scene used to communicate ideas to the target audience?
• How is editing/layout and design used to communicate ideas to the target audience? 
• What is the messaging around representation and how does this appeal to the target audience?
• How is/are narrative/s constructed?

NB: This should also include anything you have noticed that encourages convergence.

04 Statement of Intent

Based on your research into existing media, you will write about your intentions for your production and website. You will need to address the following questions.

How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief? ( approx. 400 words) 

How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words)

05 Planning - Production

MAGAZINE: This MUST contain a post called MOCK UPS, which contains a mock up version of your magazines. You MAY use found images or AI generated images, but you SHOULD think very carefully about how you will create the real version of each image.

MUSIC VIDEO: This MUST contain a post called SHOOTING SCRIPT or STORYBOARD (You can include both). You MAY use found images or AI to helps create your storyboard, or perhaps a version of the final video using stills. You SHOULD think very carefully about how you will create the real shots.

TV PROGRAMME: This MUST contain a post called SHOOTING SCRIPT or STORYBOARD (You can include both). You MAY use found images or AI to helps create your storyboard, or perhaps a version of the final video using stills. You SHOULD think very carefully about how you will create the real shots.

If you do any research into locations, actors/models, technical tutorials (e.g. how to use photoshop, how to use the camera etc.) it should have a separate post in this section.

06 Planning - Website

This MUST contain a post called MOCK UPS, which contains a mock up version of your website. You MAY use found images or AI generated images, but you SHOULD think very carefully about how you will create the real version of each image. You will need to post screen captures of your mock up website. 

07 Completed - Production

This section MUST be only one post, which should contain a clearly labelled version of your completed Magazine, Music Video or T.V. Show, or a link taking you to them. 

08 Completed - Website

This section MUST contain only one post, formatted in the following way:

WEBSITE HOMEPAGE: Link to your homepage

HYPERLINKED PAGE: Link to your hyperlinked page.

AUDIO-VISUAL ELEMENT: Very clear description of your audio-visual element and exactly where to find it on your website.

NAVIGATION: Very clear explanation of how to navigate from your homepage to your hyperlinked page.

Brief 5: Promotional Package

 You work for a independent media production and marketing company. You have been tasked with creating a promotional package for a teenaged music artist to include a two minute extract from a music video, the homepage of a website and the front cover for a copy of The Big Issue. Your target audience is aged 16 to 25, socially conscious and media savvy. 

You may produce the music video in groups of 1 to 4, but you must produce an individual website and cover. 

See more details below:

MUSIC VIDEO

Your music video must feature a filmic narrative and style referencing one of the following genres:

Teen drama, Film Noir, Horror or Science Fiction

You may feature the artist within your music video, but you don't need to.

NB: Remember to look at existing music videos/scenes from relevant films. If you find something interesting post it in the comments section below.

WEBSITE

At minimum, your website should contain:

Promotional material for music video, including behind the scenes shots.

A merch section.

A section featuring the artist performing TikTok style performances of other songs. 

A promotional gallery section.

NB: Remember to look at existing websites for ideas. If you find a particularly good website, post a link  in the comments section below.

MAGAZINE COVER

Your cover should closely resemble a real cover of The Big Issue, using similar style, format and fonts. You should include one main cover line for the artist and at least three other sell lines for other stories in the issue. 

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THESE COVERS

Magazines Archive - Big Issue

DEADLINE: 14th February 2025

TECHNICAL RESEARCH TASK: Lighting and Exposure

Over the next few weeks, we will be starting to look at manipulating light to create meaningful effects in your work. With that in mind, the following research task is in three parts:

Part 1: 

Using YouTube / Vimeo / Any other online sources, look for tutorials on:

i)  The Exposure Triad/Triangle.  

ii) Lighting Techniques, including:

• Studio Lighting
• Natural Lighting
• Lighting with a single portable light source (LED light panel or Ledzilla). 

Part 2:

When you find one that you find interesting, post the link in the comments section below and include:

i) A quick summary of the content.

ii) A review of why you found it interesting or informative.

NB: Ideally, you should look for a tutorial that you would like to try out yourself.

Part 3:

Look through at least three tutorials posted by other people and leave a comment on their review. 

DEADLINE: THIS IS AN ONGOING TASK, ANY TIME YOU FIND A TUTORIAL ABOUT LIGHTING, ADD A LINK BELOW.

BRIEF THREE: Fashion and Beauty Ad

You will be working in threes on the following task:

You work for an independent marketing firm. You have been approached by a foreign pharmaceutical company (NTL) which is looking to launch a new fragrance for their home market. They have tasked you with identifying a leading product and brand in the EU because they are looking to replicate their marketing campaign. There are three phases to the brief:

Phase one: Choose a product and advert you wish to replicate. You will need to present this to your client and using media language to clearly identify the codes and conventions of the advert.

NB: Try to use terminology that demonstrates your knowledge of theory.

e.g. Sign, Signifier, Signified, Myth, Ideology, Connotation, Denotation

Phase two: Recreate the main image from the print advert as accurately as possible. You must use your photography skills to try and 'carbon copy' the image.

Phase three: Using Photoshop, recreate a full print advert of the original advert and, using the same codes and conventions, ONE new advert for your new fragrance. 

Phase four: Present your final pieces to the board, explaining the process you went through and how you have applied the AIDA principles to your final design. 

BRIEF TWO: CODES AND CONVENTIONS RESEARCH + USING FOUND IMAGES

You work for an independent media production company. You have been given the task of creating a mockup version of the front cover of a new newspaper called Guardian Youth. This paper will be aimed at 16 to 25 year olds, who share similar social and political biases to the current readership of The Guardian newspaper. 

STEP ONE

Find (AT LEAST) six front covers of The Guardian from 2024.

Guardian-7.jpg (1609×2048) (tomorrowspapers.co.uk)

Use the link to navigate to different dates by changing the 03 (Month) or the 7 (Day).

STEP TWO

Create a PowerPoint in which you present an analysis of the conventions of the cover of the newspaper. 

You should include analysis of:

• The Masthead.
• The use of images (Think about what is in the image and the intended effect)
• Captions (Text that is beneath or inlaid into the image)
• The Header and Footer 
• The layout of the page.
• The content of lead article (splash)
• The content of the off lead (secondary article)
• The language used in headlines (is it sensationalist/subtle)
• Pull Quotes
• Teasers 
• PLUS - Anything else that you notice.

In addition, consider: 

• The ideological messaging.

STEP THREE

Once you have a clear sense of the conventions of  The Guardian, create a cover that develops and adapts these conventions to appeal to your target audience. 

NB: Your finished product should be recognisable as a Guardian product, but should clearly appeal to the new target audience.

STEP FOUR

Add your production to your PowerPoint and evaluate how you developed and adapted the conventions of The Guardian. Post the task to your Practice Tasks section of your blog using the title: PRACTIC BRIEF TWO: CODES AND CONVENTIONS RESEARCH + USING FOUND IMAGES

NB: This is a mockup task, so you may use found images. 

MARKSCHEME FOR LIVE MARKING

	L1	L2	L3	L4	L5
Research is thorough and well presented
Clear understanding of the conventions of the original text
Clear understanding of the needs of the target audience
Representations are appropriate to the genre and the audience
Clearly follows the details of the set brief
L1: Minimal, L2: Limited, L3: Adequate, L4: Good, L5: Excellent	1	2	3	4	5

BRIEF ONE: PHOTOGRAPHY 101

The purpose of this brief is to get you to think carefully about lighting and focus and to work out what is possible with the equipment you have available.

STEP ONE

Search online for THREE examples of EACH of the following:

• High Key Lighting
• Over Exposed Lighting
• Low Key Lighting
• Shallow Focus
• Deep Focus
• Monochrome
• Back lighting
• Chiaroscuro

STEP TWO

Using your phone (or any other camera if you have one) replicate ONE of each type. The main challenge here is to try and replicate the image as accurately as possible. 

STEP THREE

Create a post in the Practice Briefs section of your blog called PRACTICE BRIEF ONE: PHOTOGRAPHY 101. Display your inspiration and your own work in a way that makes it clear what you are presenting (I won't give you any more instructions than that).

DEADLINE TBA

CREATING YOUR BLOG

 Hello everyone and welcome to Media Studies at CCVI. This first task can be a little bit fiddly and I can virtually guarantee that some of you will have a problem with blogger, but we'll go ahead steadily and have it up and running as soon as possible. 

So, you're about to set up your blog. Follow the steps below as best you can. I'll be there to help if you get stuck. It's boring but have patience...

Step 1: Create a gmail account. NB: Make your password and email easy to remember

Step 2: Go to Blogger.com 

Step 3: Create an account using the following format:

Blog Address - Surname First Name CHS mediablog

Account Name - First Name Surname Media Studies Blog

Step 4: Choose THEME from the left hand menu and look for Awesome Inc.

Step 5: On the left, click on layout, find side bar right 1, add a gadget, labels.

Step 6: (This might take a while) Create a series of labelled posts so that your labels read: 

01 Coursework Brief

02 Statement of Intent

03 Research - Production

04 Research - Website

05 Planning - Production

06 Planning - Website

07 Completed - Production

08 Completed - Website

Essays

Practice Briefs        

Step 7: When you have finished, post you address in the comments section of this post.