Digital Technology and Narrative

1. A2 MEDIA
STUDIES EXAM
Section A

2. Digital Technologies
LO: To explain the role of digital technologies in
your A Level media productions

3. Do Now - Anagrams
BEAOD THPHOOPOS
NALFI CTU X
SSWPERDOR
AITLDIG SRL ERAMAC

4. QUIZ
List 15 digital
technologies that you
have used in your A
Level media
productions

6. What to think about in your answer
• You need to think about the digital technology
you used in the different stages of the project
– Pre-production (Researching and Planning)
– Production (filming and taking photos)
– Post Production (editing)
– Evaluations (presentation of work)

7. What to think about in your answer
• Digital technology refers to hardware, software
and online technology, so the cameras, the
computers, the software packages you used and
the online programmes that you have worked
with. It is worth considering how all this inter-
links.
• You can’t just describe how you used them but
you must consider WHY and how you improved
your skills using them.
• Post-production would actually fall under digital
technology

8. Digital Technology
Some important areas to consider in your
answer:
• Web 2.0
• Consumers as producers
• Impact of digital technology on production

9. WEB 2.0
Web 1.0- first generation of the World Wide Web static pages, dial up and master
generated
Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web
that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online.
Wordpress – adding posts with information on planning and research.
Multimedia Sharing- YouTube, Facebook,
Social networking sites- to get audience feedback, plan filming dates, collecting
audience research
Aggregation services- like Google.com- for research purposes.
YOUR USAGE OF WEB 2.0

10. Impact of digital technology on
production
Examples of Some of the DT’s You May Have
Used
• Digital technologies Internet, Wordpress,
YouTube, Google
• Digital Software Final Cut Pro DTP Adobe
Photoshop PPT Word
• Digital Hardware Digital camcorder, Digital
SLR, Webcam, iPhones, Computers (iMac)

11. Past Questions
• Read the examiners comments from Jan 2011
• Read exemplar answers with comments from
June 2013

12. Homework

13. • List all of the technologies you have used (hardware, software,
online) to create these media products - including ones you
have explored but decided not to use.
• Group them together e.g. all the digital editing software, all
of the web creation software, all the hardware you used to
capture sound or images digital technology you used for
researching and planning.
• What skills have you learned with each of these groups in the
last two years?
• How did you learn to use them?
• What problems did you faced along the way and how did you
resolve these problems?
• What choices did you have to make along the way with digital
technology? How did you decide what to do and why?
• What impact did digital technology have?
Planning Answer

14. Planning Answer
• Link your use of Digital Technology to your media
products.
• Identify specific aspects of your productions that were
impacted by using this technology, e.g you chose to use
Final Cut as it allowed xxxxx as shown in xxxx scene in
your music video.
• How does easy access to simple-to-use technology
impact you as a producer. What has it enabled you to
do - remember that this sort of technology has only
become available in the last few years!!!
• What media production technologies do you have
access to at home? Does this make a different to your
output, ability, confidence etc.

15. Structure
Intro: Highlight importance of digital technologies linking
to creativity
P1: Discuss the Research and Planning Stage of your
productions
P2 Construction: Discuss the practical filming /
photography / recording stage
P3 Construction: Discuss the editing (Post-Production)
stage
P4 Evaluation: Discuss the evaluation stage
Conclusion: Summarise with reference to your
introduction

16. Structure
Intro: Highlight importance of digital technologies linking
to creativity
P1: Discuss the Research and Planning Stage of your
productions
P2 Construction: Discuss the practical filming /
photography / recording stage
P3 Construction: Discuss the editing (Post-Production)
stage
P4 Evaluation: Discuss the evaluation stage
Conclusion: Summarise with reference to your
introduction
You must compare
and contrast both
Year 12 and Year 13
productions with
reference to
examples

17. Further Structure Guidance
• How you used DT to aid you in the organization of
your R+P?
• How you utilized DT to gain audience feedback?
• How you may have used everyday DT to help you
with your creative production at A2 and AS?
• How did your access to DT helped you gain both
quantitative and qualitative research findings?
• How did you use DT to make sure your main and
ancillary task were successfully combined.

18. MARKING CRITERIA
Explanation/Analysis/Argument
(10 Marks)
Use of Examples
(10 Marks)
Use of Terminology
(5 Marks)

19. Question 1B:
Narrative
LO: To explain how the role of narrative related
to one of your A Level media productions

20. 1 b): Genre Responses
Level 1: E and below
Level 2: E - D
Level 3: C - B
Level 4: B - A

21. Key Issues with Genre
Responses
Not prepared for
response because
homework wasn’t
completed
Did not refer to all areas:
• Following conventions
• Challenging
conventions
• Importance of
understanding
conventions
Incomplete
response
No reference to
theory / theorists
(consider Propp,
Todorov, Neale)

23. Basic Theorists:
Vladimir Propp

24. Basic Theorists:
Tzvetan Todorov

25. Basic Theorists:
Steve Neale
Other theorists to consider: Chandler, Fiske,
Altman, Uses and Gratifications theory

26. Narrative
What is narrative?
https://www.slideshare.net/andywallis/narrati
ve-5865177

27. Story Mountain

28. Basic Theorists:
Tzvetan Todorov

29. Applying Todorov

30. Basic Theorists:
Claude Levi-Strauss

31. Basic Theorists:
Christopher Vogler

32. Basic Theorists:
Roland Barthes

33. Exemplar Response
https://www.slideshare.net/graveneymedia/g3
25-media-studies-narrative-essay

34. Response Task
Apply theories of narrative to one
of your A Level productions.

35. Some Key Terminolgy
Character types: hero, villain,
princess, etc.,
Structure: equilibrium,
disequilibrium, resolution, binary
oppositions,
Narrative codes: action, enigma,
semic, symbolic, cultural.ç