A letter to AS Media Students

Dear new AS Media Students, 
The purpose of my letter is to inform you as to the structure of your Media course and what you can expect to do in the way of coursework. As a fellow Media student, I feel that I will be able to provide you with an accurate and truthful insight into the ups and downs of commencing with Media Studies as an A Level subject. 


Firstly, and most importantly, is your coursework. For my task I was instructed to create a front cover and article page for a specialist magazine. The research that I instigated consisted of analysis of existing media products, different genre magazines and current popular magazine publishers. I needed to gain an insight into the way the magazine producing industry worked in order to establish an acceptable market launch of my product. Identifying where there were gaps in the market for new magazines to launch a new magazine was difficult due to the extensive range of magazines that are available. However, once the publishing details has been cemented, research into genre began. I decided to create a new health and beauty magazine for teenage girls as I had identified that most existing health and beauty magazines were aimed at a more mature audience. I found this target audience very easy to work with seeing as I could identify myself with the age group. I had a personal understanding of what I would like to see in the magazine, but also collected responses and opinions from others in my target audience in order to gain a broad outlook. Using my questionnaire results, I was able to establish the conventions of my magazine which enabled me to create an effective and successful piece of coursework. Production of the coursework was the element that I found the most entertaining. I used my creative skill to create draft after draft of magazine covers and articles until my teacher and I agreed that I had reached close perfection. 


It was important to me that I was able to express myself and my own interests through my coursework, and I feel that I have done that successfully. Your coursework is a valuable aspect of your overall AS grade so care must be taken not to abuse the time that you have to get creative. Media is undermined as an "easy subject", but I can assure you that at A Level, this is not the case. You have to work just as hard and input as much effort into your work as you would with every other subject. Every piece of research that you submit and every draft that you construct, help towards achieving that overall final grade. 


The exam, also of equal importance is prepared for in class time with group revision sessions. You are taught every Media term imaginable so that when you go into that exam hall, you know exactly what you are doing and how to get the marks. Under pressure, it can be very hard to concentrate of remembering all the Media terminology that is required of you. As long as you prepare yourself and understand what is expected of you in the exam, then you will surely come out on top. My exam consisted of close analysis and comparison of two advertising campaigns of current media items. The adverts are played a number of times, leaving you time to make any notes before you begin writing. Confidence is key. The endless pages of writing and wiping sweat from your brow shows signs of achievement, you must not be afraid to work yourself to the bone! It is important that you do well in your Media exam as it can have a significant effect on your overall grade. It is just as important that you achieve your full potential in the exam, just like you did with your coursework.


I assure you now that AS Media Studies is no easy ride. You have to work hard and push yourself to the limits if you want to achieve those high-end grades. Independence and creativity is vital. Examiners look for expression of personality in writing in order to offer those extra marks. You must be prepared to put in those extra hours in order to get the job done. I advise you to stick to your deadlines, you will be making your AS course a whole lot easier for yourself. 


I have expressed my opinion on the AS Media Studies course and tried to advise you in the best possible way, based on my own failures and successes. I hope that you consider my letter useful and I wish you all the best of luck in your progression through the course. 


                                                                     Yours Sincerely,
                                                                                              Eleanor Huggan

Vladimir Propp's Theory of Character Roles

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic who studied hundreds of old folk tales to see if they shared similarities in structure. From his study, Propp identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative functions common amongst folk tales. He then generalised these common conventions to other narrative structures.  

The 8 character roles: 

1) The villain/s

2) The hero

3) The 'damsel in distress'/princess - the object of the villain's evil plans and the reward for the hero's courageous duties

4) The father - who rewards the hero with his daughter

5) The donor - who provides magical property to the narrative, usually through some sort of object

6) The helper - who aids the hero in his duties

7) The dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way

8) The false hero

These portrayals of common character roles are now apparent in media all over the world. We commonly are presented with the roles of 'heroes' and 'villains' through the news; for example, Mother Theresa would be classes as a modern day hero whereas, Bin Laden would be classes as a worldwide villain. Propp has helped us to construct media personalities through the use of character roles which determined the general perception of any particular person.

Evaluation - Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback? 

(Click link below to view evaluation work)

http://www.slideshare.net/ehuggan/what-have-you-learned-from-your-audience-feedback-7928920

Crew and Cast Sheet

Call Sheet

Video Budget Sheet

The Bridge "Tears of Blood"

Evaluation - Question 5

If you were to make this product again, what changes would you make and how would you improve it?

I am extremely happy with the outcome of my three media coursework production pieces. However, if I were to make them again, there are a few things that I would consider to change and reconstruct. 

In relation to my short film...

I am happy with the storyline that is currently presented in The Bridge as it is clear and precise to the script. The music we chose to coincide with the film I feel fits perfectly to its purpose, increasing the horror of the dark walk home, the sympathy of the police station scenes and finishing the introduction and credits of the film to a tee. 

However, I feel that when shooting scenes for the film, we could have made more use of the tripod for smoother motion and transition. For the scenes where the camera works in character perception of the 'Mystery Man', holding the camera was perfectly acceptable as it insinuated that the camera was the man himself. In this sense, you would expect the camera movement to be untidy and unsteady as it moves with the character. However, when filming scenes where character perception was not necessary or apparent, we could have used to the tripod to give the scene a professional finish. Instead, scenes where the tripod could have been used ended up looking rugged in movement and somewhat untidy. 

Also, I found when watching back over our short film that we used too many transitions between scenes where they were not necessary. I noticed this especially with the walking scenes. This was due to the fact that we could not, in my opinion, create an effective walking scene without stopping and starting the camera to move to different positions. 

The scene in which Louise calls her mother would have been a lot more effective had it been shot using a tripod. Close-up's on Louise's face would also have improved the scene as it would have captured her facial expressions in reaction to what her mother is saying. When using close-up's, additional artificial lighting would have needed to be used as the setting was too dark, in order to clearly present Louise's face and capture these expressions. Another way we could have improved this scene was to assign another actor to play Louise's mother. We could have the included quick, sharp cuts from Louise to her mother as they spoke to gain a full understanding of the conversation, allowing the audience to feel a part of the scene. Instead by only having Louise in the scene, the audience have to guess what her mother is saying from Louise's response, which in a way, is enough. 

Towards the end of the walking scene as Louise approaches the bridge, the scene fades out to black. This is a problem I noticed when watching the film back as part of my audience feedback as my target audience picked up on this fault. The scene then quickly comes back into view before changing to the opening of the bridge. This look untidy and unprofessional as the scene is meant to make a sharp cut to the bridge opening. If I were to re-do the short film, I would ensure that this fault was removed for a clean finish. 

We faced another problem when tackling the screaming in the bridge. We attempted to elongate the scream using iMovie, to which there was no avail. We then attempted to record Holly (Louise) screaming again and for longer, and insert it into the scene. However, the microphone of the computer could not handle the pitch of the scream and the speakers began to crackle. We therefore, moved the screaming sound so that it would extended beyond when the scene had faded to black. This however, produced a lag in the storyline. The man grabs Louise and, after a few seconds, she starts screaming. Having the chance to do it again, I would re-record the bridge scene and ensure that Holly screamed for longer to create a smoother sound. 

The scene in the garage when the Mystery Man rapes Louise was one that we needed to take great caution with when shooting. We did not want to show the incident taking place, but instead wanted to suggest what was happening. However, I do not feel that the scene was effective in showing the incident taking place. If I were to shoot this scene again, I would ensure that it was more action-orientated in the sense of movement and struggle. I would ensure that people understood that Louise was being attacked, but not show the incident itself. 

Finally, the scene in which Louise finds the police officer who brings in her water to be her attacker, was not as believable as I wanted it to be. Her facial expressions were not realistic enough and the scene was not presented as dramatically as I would have liked. 

In relation to my poster...

Although I am perfectly satisfied with how my poster turned out, the one element that I would change if I had to in order to improve the article would be to add an image of Louise. I would take an image of Louise's face where she looks upset and distressed and place it over the entrance of the bridge. I would then change the transparency of the image so you can faintly see it behind the film title. This would indicate that something happens to this young girl in the bridge which is going to cause her great trauma. However, this would have then given the storyline away to the audience and the aspect I like about my current poster idea is that it does not do this.    


In relation to my film review article...
Again, I am satisfied with the final result of my film review as it looks professional and reflects elements of existing film reviews I researched. However, if I were to change anything, it would be the colour scheme of the film review. I would change the white background to black which would help to intensify the horror and mystery of the narrative. I would then change the writing to white to stand out against the dark background. I would also change the font style of the film title to 'Chiller' which is also apparent in my film poster, to create another resemblance between my advertising package. Considering the actual text in the film review, I would comment more on individual actor performance and condense the synopsis into fewer words so that more importance and value is placed on the editor's opinion. 
   

Evidently, the most issues that occurred were with my actual short film. If I were to re-do my short film and edit it according to my comments above, I feel that the film would have been a lot more effective. I enjoyed creating my short film with my partner as it gave us both a taste of what film producing is all about. I learned that there are a number of things that should be considered when filming new material and that the process can become very stressful. Although my audience feedback shows that they were happy with the outcome of the film and the supporting articles, I feel I could have improved upon certain aspects to enhance the professionalism of the piece.