Skills Development Booklet

AS and A2
Media Studies
Skills
Development
Booklet

2
Key concepts relevant to Media Studies
Representation refers to the construction in any medium (e.g. film, television, magazines) of
aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract
concepts. Such representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.
They may include use of stereotypes and will often focus around issues like gender, class,
ethnicity, age, disability, sexuality and regional or national identity.
Genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind' or 'class'. The term is widely
used in media theory to refer to a distinctive type of ‘text’. Contemporary media genres tend to
relate to specific forms e.g. films are routinely classified (e.g. in television listings magazines) as
'thrillers', 'westerns' and so on - genres with which every adult in modern society is familiar. So too
with television genres such as 'game shows' and 'sitcoms'. All of these genres will have
conventions which are expected to occur within them e.g. westerns often end with a gun fight,
sitcoms tend to have a self-contained storyline running for the half hour episode.
Narrative, in media terms, is the coherence/organisation given to a series of facts. Typically, a
media text will have a start, middle and end with events unfolding chronologically. This is known
as ‘linear narrative’. A film that plays around with this convention, such as Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’
has a ‘non-linear narrative’. There are a number of theories of narrative. One of the most
celebrated is that of Todorov who talks about states of equilibrium and disequilibrium in the
narrative.
Media Language refers to written, verbal, non-verbal, aural and aesthetic communication and
usually a combination of these. in television drama, a phone conversation between two characters
in different locations can only be understood by the audience because of the relationship between
the camera angles (close-ups, head and shoulder shots or longer shots showing location context),
non-verbal performance (facial expressions during the phone conversation), dialogue (what the
two characters say), lighting (to provide a meaningful atmosphere), editing (so that we can follow
the conversation and so that continuity is correct) and sound (both diegetic and non-diegetic). We
often don’t notice these and come to expect certain styles of acting, editing, filming and sound for
certain types of programmes/films. This allows us to ‘read’ the media language as easily as we
can understand our friends in conversations without having to recall the meaning of every word.
Audience is the group of consumers for whom the media text was constructed as well as anyone
else who is exposed to the text. It is often described in terms of gender, class, ethnicity and age,
particularly when referred to as a ‘target audience’.
Creativity or ‘creative skills’ operates on two levels: first, the ability to use digital technologies to
make meaning so that the audience can respond easily to the text and second, the ability to
engage and interest the audience. This may be by following conventions or by challenging them.
Media products emerge as a result of hundreds of creative decisions. When you analyse texts you
will work out what these decisions were. When you make them, you will account for and evaluate
these decisions from your own personal experience.

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Reflecting on your AS production work (coursework)
At A2 you will take an exam called ‘Theoretical Evaluation of Production’, and
answer a question on how your production skills have developed during the two
years of the course. You will be asked to comment on how your skills have
developed in one or two of the following areas:
• Digital technology
• Research and Planning
• Using Conventions from real media texts
• Post-Production
• Creativity
The pages below will help you organise your thoughts on the production work we
have done so far in the course, from the Preliminary task – the college magazine, to
the main task, the completed music magazine.

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Skills1: DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY
Digital technology here refers to both hardware (eg cameras) and software (programmes). Answer
the following questions as honestly as possible: the unit asks you to reflect on how your skills have
developed during the course and is not a test of how impressive your skills are. You will be
rewarded for reflecting honestly and for acknowledging problems and areas for improvement.
Begin by reflecting on how experienced a user of digital technology you were at the start of the
course. In the space below, write down the names of any software or hardware you used at school
(or at home) to produce media texts. You may not have used any! If you have, briefly describe
what you used the technology for (ie image manipulation, desktop publishing)

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AS Preliminary Task
Cover and Contents Page for a college magazine
Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop
Although this was only a short preliminary task, you have used Photoshop for this task and should
have developed your skills sufficiently to be able to produce the front cover of a magazine.
Image manipulation
You will have used Photoshop to manipulate your central image (s) in some way, whether
importing, cropping, or resizing, for example. Outline below the image manipulation skills used
during this project.
In Photoshop, I cropped the main image of the front cover as the original image was larger and
had more empty space in the background. I also edited the image by using the adjustments
features on the software as the original image was too dark so therefore needed brightening and
colour adjustments.
When I was creating the contents page for my magazine, I had to resize the four images as in their
original state the images were too large. I had to crop one of the images I used to make it the
same width at some of the other photos I have used on this page to make sure that I stuck to the
rule of thirds. Also, I added a border to all of my images on this page to make them stand out
against the white background.
Text manipulation
You should also have used Photoshop to create and manipulate text on your cover: changing the
size, colour or position of the fonts you used, for example. Outline below the text manipulation
skills you used during this project.
I manipulated text on the front cover of my magazine by changing the size of the masthead so it
was larger than all of the cover lines. I also added a border to the masthead so the text didn’t
blend into the image in the background.
Also, I used a border and a drop shadow on each of the cover lines as without it, they didn’t stand
out enough. Furthermore, I have changed the colour of the text on the main cover line to white
while the caption that goes with it is a light blue colour. I have manipulated the text this way so the
difference between the main coverline and the caption can be clearly seen.

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Another way I have manipulated the text through colour is by changing the pronoun “you” to a
white colour, while the rest of the text included in this coverline is in blue font. I did this to address
the reader directly and clearly.
On the contents page, I manipulated the text by using the bold effect on the issue number and
date in the strapline. I also positioned all of the text on the contents page in three separate
columns in order to follow the rule of thirds. The text in the columns in written in lowercase and
doesn’t have a shadow, whereas the headings of these text boxes are in uppercase, are
underlined and have a shadow effect.
Digital stills camera
You used the digital stills camera to take your photos for this project. List below any photographic
skills you have used in doing this (such as framing, focus etc)
When using a digital camera for this project, I learnt how to steady a camera with my hand so that
the image was not blurred. I also learnt how to adjust some of the camera settings to try and get
the correct lighting for each of the images. However, I could have improved this skill more as some
of the photographs came out with a bad tinting to the colouring which I then had to edit in the
photoshop software to correct the lighting. Other skills that I used when using a digital camera was
zooming and focusing as I held the camera still after I had zoomed until the camera focused on
the main subject of the image, before taking the photo.
Summarise below how pleased you are with the skills you have developed during this project. How
effectively have they allowed you to produce the kind of product you wanted to produce? What
further skills would you like to develop using these programmes?
During this project, I used a digital camera to take my original images for my magazine. When
using this item of technology, I learnt how to set up the mise-en-scene, which helped me produce
a successful medium close up for my front cover. However, I would have liked to develop these
skills more as I have not used direct address in my main image and I did not get the lighting
correct in the photo.
I am pleased with the photoshop skills I have developed as I have used a variety of fonts on the
front cover and I have also used a number of different font sizes. These skills have effectively
helped me to produce the product that I wanted to create as the main cover line is clearly
displayed in larger text than the remaining cover lines, and is therefore more noticeable. However,

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in the next project I am going to need to use a wider range of text fonts, as I chose many similar
looking fonts to use on the front page this time.
Another skill that helped me with creating the front cover of this project was the rule of thirds. I
would like to develop this skill more in the future as I used this skill very basically this time, and
consequently didn’t position the texts in the places that follow this rule.
Furthermore, when creating the contents page for this project, I used rule of thirds more
proficiently by splitting the page into 3 separate columns. This feature helped me to produce the
product I wanted too as the layout is clearly structured and is easy to understand.
I have used my skills in photoshop to follow one of the codes and conventions of a contents page
by making the page numbers larger than the rest of the text so they are more noticeable. This skill
was used proficiently, however I would like to develop this by making the page numbers slightly
smaller when they are on top of images, as they can hide quite a large amount of the image.
The Photoshop software helped me to produce the final product that I wanted too as I developed
the skills to insert jpeg images. This meant that I could include 4 images on this page of my
student magazine, which fulfils one of the requirements. On the other hand, one of the images I
included on the contents page was not bright enough and I would have liked to develop my
photoshop skills so that I could have edited the lighting on just a single layer of the PSD. If I had
developed this skill, this would have made the images on the contents page to an excellent
standard.
I have included 2 strap lines on the contents page, one across the top of the page and one
positioned across the bottom. This made the magazine to an excellent standard as they were both
used effectively to show the reader important information like the date, masthead, website, social
links etc.
AS Main Task: Music magazine cover, contents page, double page article.
Your music magazine is the main task you will do at AS, and as a result you should have
developed your skills in Photoshop and in-design significantly from the preliminary task. The
questions below are designed to help you record and reflect on this.
Images
First, reflect on your use of the digital stills camera for your photographs. Summarise below how
your skills in the use of the digital camera have developed from the preliminary task (this refers to
taking photos, not image manipulation. Think about mise-en-scene, framing etc.)

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Music Magazine Cover: Adobe Photoshop
Begin by looking back at the comments you made about how you used Photoshop for your college
magazine. Then consider how you have developed your skills for this exercise.
Image Manipulation:
Outline below the new image manipulation skills you have developed during this project. Say what
you used the skills to achieve and how pleased you are with the results.

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Text manipulation
Outline below the new skills you have developed during the production of your cover. Think about
all of the text manipulation you might have done, such as shadowing, etc. Again describe why you
used each technique and how pleased you are with the results.

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Summary: How useful do you feel Photoshop was in enabling you to produce your magazine
cover? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to develop?

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Music magazine: InDesign
You will have used InDesign to produce your contents page for your music magazine and also for
the production of your article. Use the space below to outline and reflect on any new skills you
have developed.
Layout
Comment on how you used in-design to layout your pages, using text boxes, columns, etc.
Comment on specific tools you used and on how useful you found the programme to be.

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Text
Comment on how you used InDesign to position and manipulate text. Describe specific techniques
you used and evaluate their usefulness for the tasks you were set (ie production of contents pages
and article).

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Summary:
Summary: How useful do you feel InDesign was in enabling you to produce your contents page
and your article? Were there any limitations to the programme or skills you would still like to
develop?

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Skills2: Research and Planning
For both your Preliminary and Main coursework tasks, you undertook both secondary and primary
research. Below, you are required to reflect on this, beginning with the Preliminary task.
College magazine.
Although your college magazine was a preliminary task, you should have carried out some
research in order to allow you to complete the task.
Outline below what your research objectives were for this task: ie exactly what it was that you
needed to find out.

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Outline below and discuss the usefulness of the research methods that you used during the
production of the college magazine.
Was the research that you carried out sufficient to allow you to complete the task to a satisfactory
standard?

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How might you improve your research skills next time?
Outline below the planning tools you used for this task and reflect on their usefulness

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Music Magazine.
Your main task is a more detailed task and as a result you should have developed and used more
advanced and sophisticated research skills. You need to outline and reflect on these below.
Audience Research
Before producing your magazine you were required to carry out research into the tastes and
interests of your audience in order to help you produce a magazine that would appeal to them.
Summarise the aims and objectives of your audience research below:

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Outline the research methods you used for audience research (ie questionnaires, focus groups).
Outline the different styles of questioning you employed (ie open/closed) and talk about the
strengths and weaknesses of each style.
How did you select your sample? Reflect on this.
How did you present your findings (graphs, etc.)? Reflect on this.

It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel
you could improve your audience research for your next piece of production work? Set clear
targets for this.
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Topic Research
In addition to carrying out audience research you should also have carried out research into the
particular genre or area of music that you made your magazine about. Outline and reflect on this
below.
Begin by outlining your research objectives. What exactly was it that you wanted to find out?

Internet Research.
Outline below the websites you used for your research, indicating how useful you found each to be
and summarising what you found from each site.
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How did you check the validity and reliability of your findings?
List and reflect on the usefulness of any other research methods you used for your topic research
below.
It is important in this unit that you show how your skills have developed. In what ways do you feel
you could improve your topic research for your next piece of production work? Set clear targets for
this, eg Next time I will ensure that each fact I use will have been cited by at least 2 sources.

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Skills 3 Using Conventions from real media texts
All Media genres have set of conventions that the audience expect to find in them: in a Science
Fiction film, for example, we expect a certain type of setting plus spaceships, aliens, explosions,
possibly battles in space. These conventions develop, however, as Media producers challenge
some of the traditional conventions of texts. In the film ‘Psycho’, for example. Alfred Hitchcock
unsettled and surprised his audience by having the character played by the films main star killed
after 30 minutes: something Horror audiences at the time didn’t expect to happen in a horror film
(or in any film, come to that.)

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Before you produce any Media text you will need an understanding of the conventions of that
particular genre. This unit asks you to reflect on how you have done this and how your ability to
follow, or develop, the codes and conventions of the media texts you will produce has improved
during the course.
College magazine
Write below the codes and conventions of college magazines. Indicate how and why you have
either used, ignored or developed these in your magazine.
Skills3 Using Conventions from real media texts
Music Magazine
Before starting to produce your music magazine you should have spent time discussing the codes
and conventions of the genre in lessons. You should also, individually, have researched examples
of the specific kind of music magazine you decided to produce individually. Below you should
discuss what you found the main codes and conventions of your text to be, in terms of style and
content. You should then reflect on the extent to which you have followed these codes and
conventions and also comment on any codes and conventions that you have not followed or have
tried to challenge or subvert, explaining why you have done this.
Front Cover

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Use the grid below to reflect on how you have used or developed the codes and conventions of
music magazine covers. List the main conventions and then comment on how you have used
them in your cover – eg I used 2 ‘Free offer’ splashes on my cover as I feel they are important in
attracting readers in a competitive market.
Conventions: Content
Convention Comment

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Conventions: Style
Convention Comment

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Now do the same for your contents pages and for your article
Conventions: Content page content
Convention Comment

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Conventions: contents page style
Convention Comment

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Conventions: article content
Convention Comment

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Conventions: Article style
Convention Comment

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Skills4 Post Production
For this section of the unit you are required to describe and reflect on the post-production activities
you have carried out. This refers to areas such as gaining audience feedback on your products
and successfully evaluating how you have worked.
College Magazine:
Outline below any methods you used to gain audience feedback (ie questionnaires, focus groups).
Summarise your findings
Outline below any evaluation that took place after you completed your production. Reflect on your
conclusion and the methods you used.

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Music Magazine
For your music magazine you should have spent longer on the post-production stage. Below you
should reflect on this.
Audience feedback
Briefly summarise why it is important to gain audience feedback on a production. To what use
might the data be put?
Outline below the aims and objectives of your audience feedback. What information were you
trying to obtain?

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Now describe the methods you used to gain audience feedback on your product (ie
questionnaires, focus groups). Outline the methods of questioning you used within your
questionnaires (ie open/closed/restricted choices) and reflect honestly on how productive these
methods were.

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Summarise below your findings from your audience feedback. Having looked at this, how do you
feel you could improve the quality of audience feedback you receive next time? Set clear targets,
based on your experience this time around.

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Evaluation
Outline below the methods you used to produce an evaluation for this production (ie powerpoint
presentation, essay) How useful and appropriate was this method?
How reflective do you feel you were in your evaluation?
How do you feel you might improve the quality of your evaluation for your next production?

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Skills5: Creativity
College Magazine
Here you are required to reflect on your creativity during the production tasks you produce on the
course. This refers to your ability to create original and good quality products.
How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you
especially pleased with?
Reflect below on the ‘creative process’ – ie how you came up with your ideas
(brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting).
What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?
Music magazine
How pleased are you with the piece you have created for this task? What elements of it are you
especially pleased with?

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Skills5: Creativity
Reflect below on the ‘creative process’ – ie how you came up with your ideas
(brainstorming/looking at examples of existing practice/drafting). This may be an assessment of
how you organised the photography, how you used the photographs, how you organised your
layouts, the language you used, the way you drew attention to certain elements etc
What equipment was especially important in helping you to produce what you wanted to produce?

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