1. 1
Magazine Section:
• Drafting
• Costume
• Long Shot
• Dominant Image
• Publishing Houses
• Teasers
• Anchorage
• Conventions
TV Drama:
• Mid Shot
• Long Shot
• Close Up
• Lighting
• Establishing Shot
• Tracking Shot
• Diegetic Sound
• Non- diegetic
• Ambient Sound
• Shot Reverse Shot
• Cross Cut
• Axis Match
• Setting
Considerably more vocabulary
to learn from GCSE to A-Level.
The camera techniques don’t
change, there are only a few
more to learn.
It is important to learn the
vocabulary to make sure your
answers are the best that they
can be. Especially in textual
analysis.
There is also another whole
section to learn In Film. For
example about production and
distribution and
marketing/advertising.
I think it is important to keep
remembering the vocabulary all
the way into A2.
3. 3
Last year I used a range of software to complete my GCSE
coursework. I learned how to use Photoshop to edit images
and create my magazine pages in year 10. I am now able to
edit images much more accurately so that they look much
more professional and up to A-Level standard.
However I found the green screen particularly hard to use
when taking my images for my magazine. It was very creased
so it was very hard to edit out when it came to the
construction of my magazine. If I took my images again I
would use a plain white background.
In Year 12 I learned how to use Prezi and Blogger. I found
Prezi particularly useful when it came to my evaluation as it
helped me to show that I could use a range of technologies.
Blogger also helped me to track my progress throughout
Year 12, it was helpful in uploading power points so that I
could show my progress, however it was sometimes
problematic If the internet was not working.
4. 4
My initial idea for my magazine was to have a pop magazine aimed at 11-16 year olds. It
was essential to plan my ideas and explore them so that I got the best outcome possible.
I had to voice my ideas to my audience to see if they liked them or not, to influence my
decision. I looked at existing magazines to give me an idea of what I wanted mine to
ideally look like and to spot gaps in the market. Publishing houses research also helped to
widen my knowledge of gaps in the market, so I knew what ideas I could explore further.
5. 5
The end of year evaluation has changed a lot from year 10/11 to
year 12.
This evaluation consisted of 7 questions;
How does my media product use or challenge conventions
How does it represent particular social groups
What kind of media distribution would sell your product and
why?
Who would be the audience for your media product
How did you attract/address your audience
What have you learnt about technologies
Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you
have learnt
This evaluation needed a lot more detail to previous ones that I have done. You had to
use examples to back up each of your points and frequently refer back to your work.
You also had to complete your evaluation by using a variety of different technologies,
such as Prezi, Animoto and Power Point. This meant that it took much longer to
complete my evaluation.
6. 6
Organisation of files in AS and A2 is very Important especially
on your blog.
You need to know where all of your work is on your blog so
that you can refer back to it in your evaluation, save
everything under appropriate names.
Labels on your blog help you to group similar work so you and
the examiner can find it easily, for example ‘Research Into
Existing Texts’ and ‘Planning And Organising Photo
Opportunities’.
Organisation of your books for TV Drama and the film industry
is also important as it will help you to find things much more
easily when it comes to revision.
7. 7
In AS I had to develop my photography techniques, for example I
had to use a range of shot types and also make sure all my photos
were not repeats of the same people, I had to show a variety of
photos.
• I also had to be able to follow conventions of each page- For
example a mid shot for my dominant picture on my front
page.
• I also had to show extensive evidence that I could plan ahead
of my work. I had to include drafts, and anything that I wanted
to change also any audience research that I carried out that
changed or influenced my decision. Much MORE planning is
needed at A-Level
• I will have to keep on improving and working on this in A2.
8. 8
Like in GCSE it is important to show all the stages
of your practical work by using drafts. In GCSE
you used folders to document your progress
whereas in A-Level blogs have to be kept up to
date with important drafts and progress.
By uploading drafts you can
also ask your audience what
they think of it. For example
when I uploaded this draft
and asked my audience, I
changed the page as it was
not what they liked. I ended
up changing the look of my
contents page to suit my
audience more.
Even more important
in A-Level to upload
even more drafts to
your blog, it gets you
more marks!
10. 10
For AS I had to do research into publishing
houses to find a gap in the market.
By doing this research I found what magazines
where already being published and who were
producing them.
This helped me in finding a magazine that
would fit into a publishing house and be
different and unique.
I also had to do research into existing texts to
find out the conventions of a real
popmagazine, for example what
images were like, story lines, and anchorage
used.
11. 11
I basically used the same people skills that I had in GCSE.
For example;
I had to organise my photo shoot with a group of
people, this meant communicating with the group
and organising when the best time was for them.
Asking audience research questionnaires, I had to be
able to approach my target audience (13-16year olds)
to ask them my questionnaire. This means that I had
to have good people skills in order to get people to
answer them.
In A2 there could be more development of people
skills as I will have to organise and shoot my own
music video. This means planning the day and
instructing the models in what to do. This will take
patience and good organisation.
