1st March: Homework and Deadlines

You should have handed in draft answers to qns 1-5 of the Evaluation by now. I will try to get them back to you with feedback as soon as possible.

You are on the last lap now - questions 6 and 7 this week! I'd like them by Friday but next Monday is the absolute limit (8 Mar). You will then have a week to finalise your Evaluation and post it on your blog. Ensure it is clearly labelled and all your questions are in order in one post.....

Final Deadline for Evaluations: 15 March

Qn 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
First of all, list all the technology you have used in:

your research
your planning
your creating of your product (with the software, try and list the tools, effects, filters etc that you personally used)
your gathering of feedback
the creation of your evaluation

For each stage, try and comment on what this allowed you to do, what was good about it compared to more traditional methods. Try to think if there was anything you wanted to do but could not because the technology wouldn't allow you or made it difficult.

Try and end by answering the question: what have I learnt about technologies from this project?

Then use the separate notes you have and think how you could present this in an interesting way....


Qn 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Look over both tasks - the prelim and the final one and compare what is better in the final product - try and be technical - consider shots, editing, sound, lighting, pace, clear character and narrative..... Again, think about presentation - possibly use some screen grabs.....

Evaluation Questions 4 and 5

Your homework tasks for this week include:

- redrafting your responses to qns 1 - 3 and getting them ready to post on your blog in their final form. Think about how you will present your ideas and make them visually appealing and showcase your use of digital technology

- drafting answers to qns 4 and 5 - these will need to be handed in by 4pm on Monday 1 March. Advice is in handout you have but here are some further pointers:

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Draw up a profile of your ideal viewer/reader (some of you have done a bit of this already, so this should be easy!). Think about:

- a name
- gender
- an age
-ethnicity
- what they like in terms of media consumption and similar products
- what they want out of your type of product

Try and add a photo - either get one of a mate or use google!

You could end with an overview, stating broadly what categories you are aiming at in terms of Gender, Race, Age, Socio-economic status and Special Interest. You could decide if this was a mainstream or niche market and why it is a good audience to target...

To present this, you could write an intro, create the profile on word etc and scan in and then add your final comments? Or, if you feel adventurous, you could film someone posing as your ideal reader and interview them and post this as a video clip???

Qn 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

This requires you to think about all the things you have done to make your product attractive to your audience. To start with you need to identify what these are - look at the suggested starting points for this on pg 54 of your blue booklets. Try and note what features you have used and try to explain how/why they will appeal....

Then you need to consider how to present this in an interesting way.

(A) You could annotate your video in YouTube or your images in Flickr.

(B) you could present this response as a PowerPoint and use one slide to display the question, one to explain what you will do and then one slide per feature you have used with a brief explanation of how it works (don't forget to use sub headings?). Each of your key slides could be illustrated with a still (possibly cropped?) to showcase the feature. You could also weave in any feedback that confirms if this has worked or not?

(C) Another way to do this would be to make a short video - introduce it as a short survey to see what makes your product appeal to its audience. Then get lots of people to briefly pick out one feature and comment on what they like about it (obviously, you need to provide them with the answers to ensure the final version covers everything....)

Qn 4 should be quite quick to do and qn 5 should take a little more time.... Have fun...

Mrs Doggart

Evaluation: Questions 2 and 3

Your homework for next Friday (12th Feb) is a rough draft of Questions 2 and 3 for your evaluation. You can add it to your evaluation post but can you please print me off a copy - I can look at visuals etc on your post, as long as you tell me to!

Here are some guidelines to get that blog looking good:

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Decide what the main social groups are that you represent or show in your product e.g. a music star (specify in what genre); a hero and a villain; a victim.... Start your post by stating what social group you have portrayed in your product and that you will compare them to similar images in a real product.

Find and grab an image (or a few images if you prefer) - you may need to crop and enlarge if they are only a small part of the whole picture. Try and find an image of a similar character from a "real" media product.

You could label each of the images picking out key elements of the way the character is created. Think about:
- gender
- costume
- physical characteristics
- body language
- expression
- props/accessories
- the media language of the image (lighting, colour, type of shot...)

As you label add some notes to explain what impression these details create

Finish this question by commenting on whether your character is typical of its type (i.e. a stereotype) or whether it is something a bit different. Possibly state why using a stereotype (or developing one or doing something very different) is good for your product.

You could do this as a PowerPoint and load via Slideshare or Scribd; do it as a Word document and load via scribd or scan and load; or you could write text in your blog and add annotated images from Flickr...


Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Video - use the questions on the separate handout I gave you and decide on a presentation method - you could use:

- an interview with yourself on video - a kind of DVD extra? You could intercut this with some images?
- a PowerPoint with screen grabs
- a straightforward blog entry with images

See me if you are unsure about the role of production companies and distributors....Remember that your film is a British film - possibly find some other examples of British films and state how yours is similar or not....


Print - again, use the questions in the separate handout you have.

You need to consider who would publish your magazine. You could add an image of their logo and info about other titles they publish. Think about why they would be interested in publishing your magazine - new market? emphasise your USP...how is it different to other music titles they publish?

You could do this as a straightforward blog entry or a PowerPoint or Word document and embed via Slideshare or Scribd.....