G325SECTION A

Past Questions and Focus

January 2010

a) Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

b) Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions.

June 2010

a) Describe the ways in which you production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.

b) Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre.

January 2011

a) Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

b) Apply theories of narrative to one of your coursework productions.

June 2011

a) Explain how far your understanding of the conventions of existing media influenced the way you created your own media products. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how this understanding developed over time.

b) Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to the concept of audience.

January 2012

a) Describe how your analysis of the conventions of real media texts informed your own creative media practice. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

b) Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions.

June 2012

a) Describe a range of creative decisions that you made in post-production and how these decisions made a difference to your final outcomes. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

b) Explain how meaning is created by the use of media language in one of your coursework productions.

Specimen Paper

a) “Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers.” In your experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?

b) “Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives.” Explain how you used conventional and/or experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces.

Skill Areas covered in (a)

Digital Technology Creativity Research and planning Post-production Using conventions from real media texts

Post-production

Post production is a more ambiguous term for some media areas and thus examiners will credit candidates’ ability to demonstrate their understanding of the term in relation to their own work.

For example, a candidate may treat all manipulation of copy and images as post production in print. For film a candidate may consider post production to include editing, sound and effects.

The definitions of the term are at the discretion of candidates, but candidates are encouraged to explain their use of the term in their answers in the examination to aid the examiner.

Concepts covered in (b)

Genre Narrative Representation Audience Media language

Media Language

Media language refers to the ways in which media producers make meaning in ways that are specific to the medium in which they are working and how audiences come to be literate in ‘reading’ such meaning within the medium, for example, the ‘language of film’ and print layout conventions.

These medium-specific languages will often be closely connected to other media concepts such as genre or narrative and candidates are at liberty to make such connections to a greater or lesser extent in their answers.

Looking at the concepts

Digital Technology (Jan 2011)

Creativity (Specimen) Research and

planning (Jan 2010) Post-production (June

2012) Using conventions

from real media texts (June 2010, June 2011, Jan 2012)

Genre (June 2010) Narrative (Jan

2011, Specimen) Representation

(Jan 2010, Jan 2012)

Audience (June 2011)

Media language (June 2012)

Preparing for Section A question (a)

Mind map, annotate, or somehow express the way in which you have developed skills in: Digital Technology Creativity Research and planning Post-production Using conventions from real media texts

…from your Foundation Portfolio through to your Advanced Portfolio. What are the skills? Where, how and why did you use them? How have you improved and developed them?

Preparing for Section A question (b)

Mind map, annotate, or somehow express your understanding of the concepts of: Genre Narrative Representation Audience Media language

What does the concept mean? What theories are connected to that concept? Analyse one of your coursework productions

in relation to each of those concepts.