GCSE Media - Mr Halsey cover work Friday 13 December

I'm sorry I won't be in today's lessons but you know what you need to be working on:

Continue to work on your Assignment 2 production work - film poster and storyboard.

Mr Babu is available for Photoshop or equipment support.

If you finish your production work to a high standard, you can prepare for your GCSE Media mock exam next week. The pre-release brief is here and the tasks you need to do before the exam are here.

I'll see you next week to continue our one-to-one meetings on coursework progress.

Mock research - videogame print adverts

Media legend and future A* student Tejas has produced a brilliant collage of videogame print adverts. This is exactly the kind of preparation we want to see before the mock exam on 19 December. Keep up the good work!

Mock exam: revision and preparation tasks

You need to complete ALL of the tasks before the mock exam on Thursday 19 December. This is HOMEWORK for the next two weeks.

Your research needs to be posted on your blog - it will be useful later in the year for the real exam. Your planning and sketching of the actual marketing campaign will be a mixture of blog posts and paper-based planning.

The five compulsory tasks are:

1) These were the UK’s top ten videogames for 2012:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Activision 
• FIFA 13 - Electronic Arts 
• Assassin's Creed III – Ubisoft 
• Halo 4 – Microsoft 
• Hitman Absolution - Square Enix 
• Just Dance 4 – Ubisoft 
• Far Cry 3 – Ubisoft 
• FIFA 12 - Electronic Arts 
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Bethesda 
• Borderlands 2 - 2K Games  

Find an advert from each media platform for each of the above games (OR their latest version - FIFA14 for example). Remember the three media platforms: print (magazines, newspapers, billboards); broadcast (TV, radio); web based (the internet, YouTube, mobile devices, social media).

2) Choose two games from different genres and research their promotional campaign in depth. Find examples of their marketing (adverts) and promotion (PR, events, social media). Look specifically at the way the game was marketed pre- and post-release.

3) Research successful games that are available on the internet, tablets or mobile phones. How were they promoted? How do the games make money? What is it that makes a mobile game a success?

4) Come up with a name and marketing campaign for the brief you have been given. Think of five creative ways you could promote the game to boys and girls equally in the 12-18 age range.

5) Design promotional material for the game: storyboard a trailer, design a website homepage and sketch out a print advert. 

Mock exam: Marketing and Promotion of Video Games

Pre-release briefing notes

Eat, Sleep, Play Ltd

Eat, Sleep, Play Ltd is delighted to announce that we have a great new game currently in development. It is not yet finished and we are now looking for someone to join the team, finalise the game and platforms it will run on and then develop a successful marketing campaign.

The game is about a new world in which players can create an avatar and explore the landscape by going on adventures into new territory. They can add to the world by building a house, meeting other avatars, having a family, growing food and lots more.

We need you to give the game a name and then plan the promotion and marketing campaign. It is very important that we attract an audience of both boys and girls, aged between 12 and 18 years.

Like all our campaigns, it should use all three media platforms, it should appeal equally to boys and girls and you should think about different strategies for pre-release and post-release. Linked to this, we are a fast-moving production company and always look to use the latest technology and social media to promote our games. Finally, as part of the overall campaign, make sure you plan creative material – a TV/YouTube trailer, a print advert and a website homepage.

You only have two weeks to plan the campaign – you will then be asked to complete four tasks.

Good luck and be creative!

Glossary

In development                      

Still being planned and made

Campaign 

Set of marketing and promotional events/adverts to sell something

Marketing and promotion       

All kinds of advertising: everything from TV adverts to magazine articles, banner ads on

websites, viral adverts, stages events, launch parties and more.

Avatar 

An online persona or character

Platforms 

Print (magazines, newspapers, billboards); broadcast (TV, radio); web based (the 

internet, mobile devices) 

Pre-release 

Before the game is launched

Post-release 
After the game is launched

Mr Halsey cover work - Friday 22 November

I'm sorry I'm missing another lesson - I have to take my little boy to hospital for his check-up. However, I'm confident we all know what we're doing. The work is as follows:

1) Make sure your research is complete: film posters and trailers (blogpost here if you've been away)

2) Make sure you have a completed film pitch - details here.

3) Work on the Photoshop film poster for your original film idea - it can be portrait or landscape but must include the key conventions of a professional film poster. Further help here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you need to take a photo for your film poster you MUST see Mr Parker in DF05 (Periods 1,2) or Mr Matthews in DF01 (Periods 3,4) and then get the equipment from Mr Babu in DF06. Equipment MUST come back 15 minutes before end of lesson to ensure everything is returned in order. You must NOT disturb any other lesson or take students out of other subjects under any circumstances.

Next week we will learn about storyboarding and start the final part of the production work for Assignment 2.

Good luck!

Mr Halsey

Film poster essential: Steel Tongs font!

The institutional information at the bottom of a film poster is in a very distinctive font - you can't make a film poster look authentic without it...

Luckily, we have downloaded the font on to school computers - it is called Steel Tongs. The way the font works is that CAPITAL letters work normally while lower case letters each correspond to one of the movie credits ('Directed By...' 'Written By...' etc.)

You need to use the Steel Tongs guide to see which letter you need for each credit - there are plenty online, this link has one website you can use.

Mr Halsey cover work - Friday 15 November

I'm sorry to miss all our lessons this week but I do have a very good excuse - my son Samuel was born on Wednesday morning and I'm currently trying to learn how to be a parent! I'm hoping to be back before too long so I don't miss too many more lessons.

You need to be getting on with Assignment 2 and that means coming up with your own original film idea so you can then create the film poster and trailer. Work through the following tasks and you will be in good shape for next week:

Task 1
Read these top tips for coming up with your own idea:

1) Think carefully about setting and genre – a sci-fi pitch may be difficult to realise with the time and resources at your disposal.
2) Avoid major stars – you’ll need an original image for the film poster and unless you know Brad Pitt that will be a difficult photoshoot to arrange. 
3) Make sure the film’s narrative is easy to understand and follow – you only have a 30 second trailer to play with. If you can't tell the basic story in one sentence you need to work on it more.

Task 2
Come up with the basic idea for your film - genre, storyline, setting etc. Discuss it with someone else and make sure you can tell the story clearly and easily.

Task 3
You now need to write a film pitch for your idea. This is your chance to sell your film idea in approximately 150 words. 

Firstly, you need to begin with your ‘log line’ – a one sentence summary that will immediately grab attention.

Example log line - from Pirates of the Caribbean: "A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England's daughter and reclaim his ship."

Write a log line for your original film idea.

Task 4
You now need to write the rest of your film pitch. Make sure you include the following:

1) The ‘log line’ (a one sentence summary of the film's narrative or appeal) - in task 3 above.
2) Brief reference to your film's genre
3) Brief reference to at least one similar film
4) Brief reference to the target audience for your film
5) Indication of main characters

6) Brief summary of narrative (what happens in the story)

Task 5
When you have completed your film pitch - and it may take some time because you want a very good, original idea - you need to start planning your film poster and trailer. First, plan your photoshoot and work out who will be in your film poster and when you will shoot the picture. Sketch a draft of the film poster and start writing the text that will go on it.

Extension task
If you've finished absolutely everything - well done! You can use the rest of the lesson time to research film posters and trailers in the same genre as your own film to make sure you are meeting the key conventions of that genre.

Good luck and thanks for staying focused while I'm away!

Mr Halsey

If you've missed a lesson... your catch-up homework

Well done for completing your Maths - good luck with the results there. 

This morning, you missed the key conventions of a film poster and trailer. For example:

Film poster: central image, tagline, release date etc.
Film trailer: dramatic shots, music, text on screen etc.

Your tasks to catch up are as follows:

1) Research the key conventions of film posters and trailers and write a detailed blog post for each. Use other people in the class to help you - they have detailed notes.

2) Next, choose three films to analyse. Find the poster and trailer for each film and complete a blog post with the following:

- The genre of the film
- The key conventions of the film poster
- The key conventions of the film trailer
- The target audience for the film
- Why you think the film promotion is successful

3) If you finish this, go back to each poster/trailer and add an analysis of the NCIS - Narrative, Character, Iconography and Setting.

Film posters and trailers - key conventions

In your pair/three, log on to a computer and find a trailer and film poster for one film of your choice. Create a blog post with the following:

1. The genre of the film
2. The key conventions of the film poster
3. The key conventions of the film trailer
4. The target audience for the film
5. Why your pair/three thinks it is successful

Any thing unfinished is homework - due next Wednesday.

Mr Parker cover work - Friday 8/11

Mr Parker sends his apologies - he is really not feeling well today. However, there is plenty of work for you to do in preparing for Assignment 2.

Next week, we will start planning our own films, posters and trailers. Before we do that, we need to know the key conventions of a film poster and trailer. For example:

Film poster: central image, tagline, release date etc.
Film trailer: dramatic shots, music, text on screen etc.

Your tasks today are as follows:

1) Research the key conventions of film posters and trailers and write a detailed blog post for each.

2) Next, choose three films to analyse. Find the poster and trailer for each film and complete a blog post with the following:

- The genre of the film
- The key conventions of the film poster
- The key conventions of the film trailer
- The target audience for the film
- Why you think the film promotion is successful

3) If you finish this, go back to each poster/trailer and add an analysis of the NCIS - Narrative, Character, Iconography and Setting.

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to pop next door and ask me.

Good luck!

Genre - afternoon lesson / homework

This afternoon, you need to work on the following:

1. Make sure your blog is up-to-date with your finished Assignment 1 magazine cover.
2. Choose three film trailers, embed the clips from YouTube and write an analysis of what genre each film is in and why. Use NCIS to help you.

Anything you don't finish is homework.

Due: Next Wednesday

Useful info - 'i' newspaper current audience demographics

Here's a useful link for you: the 'i' newspaper current readership.

The idea with your magazine is to try and appeal to a younger audience (teenagers) - but the demographic details (ABC1 etc) will still be useful.

Top tip - magazine media packs

Here's a great little tip if you're trying to find out the target audience for a magazine you're analysing. Most magazines publish a media pack that contains all the demographic information for advertisers. You can use it to write an authoritative account of the target audience (and mention the source - the moderator will be impressed with your research).

Here are two examples:

Men's Health magazine media pack.

Glamour magazine media pack (UK edition).

Assignment 1 - Analytical Task

It's now time to complete the Assignment 1 Analytical Task. A reminder of the task AQA have set you:

Analyse the cover pages of two popular magazines. How do the covers appeal to their audiences?

Word count: 500 words
10 marks

AO2: Analyse and Respond

Remember - we add a couple of details to that. Firstly, they need to be two magazines aimed at different audiences. Secondly, they can't be videogame magazines.

You can find guidance for the layout of the Assignment 1 Analytical Task here.

Remember, we analyse something by explaining HOW and WHY it is produced in that way and the EFFECT it has on its audience. For an A*, you need to explain in real detail and offer alternative interpretations.

One of the ways of doing this is making sure we use those key words and phrases to show connotation:

This tells the reader...
This could signify...
A possible interpretation of this is...
The reader could infer that...
This shows the audience...
This suggests to the reader...
From this, the audience will understand that...
This connotes...
This is significant because...
This creates...
This emphasises...

Bloscar of the Week - Mr Matthews

This week's Blogscar award was a very simple choice...

For phenomenal and unyielding commitment to following very simple instructions, and a 'beyond the call of duty' work-ethic...and for being the best dressed female in year 8 - 

ANA DAKOLI

Special mentions go to Alan for coolest font choice, Samir for a great image; Sara and Virmal for completing all work and Fasih for flexibility and suppleness.

Blogscar

Mr Matthews Blogscar of the Week Award to Zubair - for outstanding commitment to sketching and planning before taking his magazine cover shot.

Special Mentions Samir and Abdifatah - for a marked improvement in the state of their blogs since last week.

Keep it up team Mr M!

The ‘KE’ at the beginning of the

magazine title appears to be smashed

or broken. This is significant as the target audience for Kerrang magazine is specific to fans of rock and punk music. The fact that the letters appear shattered or cracked would appeal to this audience because rock and punk music has a reputation for being violent, aggressive and expressive. This idea is further supported by the central image, which shows the lead singer of an ‘up-and-coming’ punk band directly addressing the audience with an explicit and aggressive gesture. Punk music’s reputation for ignoring what people think of them is demonstrated in both the central image, and the broken type face of the magazine title. This aggression is part of Kerrang’s brand identity.

Target audience - social class classification table

This will give you some extra information on how advertisers break down social class using ABC1, DE etc.

'Depth of Analysis'

Do you have 'depth of analysis' as one of your EBIs???

Check out Laura T's blog from Mr Matthews' class - her analysis has #A* written all over it!

Introduction to Media - end of unit checklist

Today is the last lesson of our Introduction to Media Studies before we start our coursework. We're giving you the opportunity to make sure all of your work is complete, on your blog and the best it can be. Use the following checklist to make sure all of the following tasks are on your blog:

• Summer research project - redrafted to the highest possible standard
• Videogame advert analysed using the four key conventions
• Completed Learner Response tasks for any work you have had marked
• Completed Photoshop fruit bowl with written explanation of task
• Completed photo story with written analysis explaining each camera shot and what impact it has on the audience
• Completed Microsoft Word document with Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis
• Completed Photoshop typography work uploaded on blog with written explanation of task
• Completed Target Audience Profile on Photoshop for videogame of your choice, uploaded on blog

Extension task

If you have completed everything above to a very high standard, have a go at the task below:

Create your own media production company and design a graphic identity for it using everything you have learned about Photoshop and media communication in the last month.

Upload it to your blog and write an analysis of your design.

The end of the beginning... and it's looking great

We're reaching the end of our Introduction to Media Studies unit and there is some spectacular work already on blogs that suggests we are going to have an amazing year. Mr Parker and Mr Matthews have already highlighted the excellent work in their classes and I'm delighted to say that plenty of students in my classes have really gone the extra mile.

If you want to know what a blog looks like from a student aiming for A/A* then take a look at the following...

Mr Halsey A1: Harmony, Mohammed B, Perry, Ruth, Shahd
Mr Halsey B1: Enia, Kishan, Rashida, Veerhain, Zahhiyah

These students are all making the most of the possibilities of a Media blog and deserve great credit: keep up the good work!

Mr Matthews Blogscars Awards

Phenomenal start to the GCSE course from Mr Matthews' media class...

Into the blogging HALL of FAME with special mentions and a Greenford award for 'services to entertaining the blogosphere' go to: Laura T, Leila, Zubair, Radhika, Ana, Alan, Angad, Nikita, Samsam

'Phenomenal Photoshop Prowess' award to Ammar (check out his #A* Fruitbowl!)

Blogger of the year so far - and winner of the Blogscar this week - RABIA ZAKRIA

Well done team Matthews - a great start to a GCSE which I am confident you will do brilliantly in!

Demographics: Audience Profile

Create an audience profile for a videogame of your choice using Photoshop.

First, use demographics: Age, gender, education, social class, race/ethnicity, job/profession/ earnings, home (city/village/countryside).

You can also add statements that your audience agree with (see the NME profile for an example)

Then use brand logos that the audience will use or enjoy and build them into your profile.

Ultimately, we want it to look like this:

An example profile could be GTA5...

GTA5 Audience Profile - Demographics
Age: 15-35
Gender: 80% male, 20% female
Education: Further or higher education
Race/ethnicity: Wide variety
Job: Young professional/student
Lives: major cities/towns

GTA5 Audience Profile - Brands
iPhone, Galaxy, PS3, Xbox, Nike, Top Boy, Sky Movies, Nandos, Lucozade etc.

A Big Well Done

I just wanted to single a few of my Media Studies students out for their excellent start to GCSE Media.

• Jordan - I'm really impressed with your dedication and enthusiasm; great to see someone enjoying their option subject and it shows in your work so far.
• Tejas - SUPERB blog; professional presentation and lots of hard work on show.
• Umar - always ready to contribute in class and you always give an answer to show you've been listening, well done.
• Mohammad - our Photoshop expert showing kindness and patience when helping everyone in the class - including me!
• Sambul - a great pleasure to have in the class - always on task and focused; I'm really impressed

The bar has been set high and I'm looking forward to mentioning other individuals on the blog throughout the year. 

p.s. special mention to Kishan - if you haven't seen his fruit bowl take a look at his blog, it is a work of art. 

Homework: Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis

A reminder that your homework is to finish your Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis.

The Word document with the images to analyse is available on the VLE > Departments > Media > Shared documents > Minority Report shot-by-shot analysis

Due: Wednesday 25 September

Unfortunately, we can't attach a Word document to our blogs so we will be printing these out and sticking them in our books for marking. We will find some time in lessons to do this.

If you have any questions, just let one of us know.

Good luck!

Media Guardian

A really useful site to check regularly is the Media News section of Guardian online.

Take a look
http://www.theguardian.com/media

Media Guardian

Key Concepts - notes

If you missed any of the notes from today's lesson this should help:

Language

• The Language of Media Studies
• How we ‘read’ media texts
• Recognising the codes and conventions of media texts
• Key media terms e.g. genre… denotation… connotation… narrative… 

Institution

• The companies or organisations behind the media
• Most aspects of the media are a commodity: something that is bought and sold. There is competition and a demand for profit.
• Huge institutions are called multinationals e.g. News International
• Smaller institutions can include media texts we create ourselves (blogs etc.)

Audience

• The people who consume media products
• How does the media influence its audience? Who holds the power?
• How is an audience targeted? What do the audience enjoy or learn from the media product?
• Audience research: who exactly is buying our product?

Representation

• The people who consume media products
• How does the media influence its audience? Who holds the power?
• How is an audience targeted? What do the audience enjoy or learn from the media product?
• Audience research: who exactly is buying our product?

Summer research project - deadline

Most of you have published your summer research project to your blog - well done!

If you haven't (you may have joined the course late or been on a trip when the work was set) you need to make sure it is published to your blog by next Friday 13 September.

All the information you need is on this blog - just scroll down.

If you are not able to meet this deadline then we will need to question whether GCSE Media is the right option for you.

Homework - Key Concepts

Your first piece of homework this year is as follows:

1) Find a print advert for a recent videogame (use Google images)

2) Write an analysis of the advert on your blog using the four key media concepts: language, institution, audience and representation.

Make sure this goes on your blog and that we have your blog linked from the main GCSE Media Macguffin page.

Due: Friday 13 September

Example:

Language

The title and packaging of the game, the console logo, background image and web address are all key conventions of a videogame advert. The effect created here is…

Institution

The game was produced by Ubisoft and is available on multiple platforms. The original game was produced for Wii, a Nintendo brand. It was commercially successful (charting at number 1 in the game charts)…

Audience

This looks like it would be targeted at an audience of mixed gender (although perhaps slightly more female?) A reasonably wide age range might apply due to family appeal…

Representation 

The stylistic cover design makes it difficult to see race or ethnicity but it is notable that the two models at the front are female while in the background are males. This is perhaps unusual for most videogames…

GCSE Media Summer Project

Videogame research

Your summer project requires you to choose a videogame from the last two years and research the following: 

• The key information about the game: genre, platform (Xbox, PS3 etc), price, release date, reviews, number of copies sold and any other relevant information. 
• The institutions behind the game – the company or companies that created or developed it (e.g. Electronic Arts etc.)
• How it was marketed/promoted – find example adverts, both print and video, and look at how the game was promoted across different media platforms and social networking. Can you find an image or screengrab of the game’s Facebook page? Does it have a Twitter account? Is it on YouTube?
• The target audience – if you can’t find the official target audience, make an educated guess based on the rest of your research
• How successful it was – did the marketing and promotion campaign work? Is there a sequel planned? How do you know if it was successful?

You need to collect this information and post everything to your blog. The more videos, images and examples you can find the better – we don’t just want a block of text.

You must cover every bullet point above and your research should be an absolute minimum of 500 words.

Also, if you haven't done so already, you need to post your blog URL (e.g. http://thenameofyourmediablog.blogspot.com) as a comment on the post below this one. This will allow us to link to all of our blogs in September.

Due: September (first week back)

Welcome to new GCSE students!

We are delighted you have chosen GCSE Media Studies and confident you will not regret it. Over the next year you will produce some amazing production work, learn a huge amount about analysing the media and end up with an excellent GCSE grade. All you need to do is put the work in!

Your first job is to start your GCSE Media blog. Instructions will be provided or you can find text instructions here. Once you have your blog URL, post it as a comment below with your name clearly written next to it.

E.g. Mr Halsey's blog: http://mediamacguffingcse.blogspot.co.uk/ 

Good luck!

GCSE Media Studies - anonymous survey

Congratulations - you have completed GCSE Media Studies! 

I hope the exam yesterday went well - there were a couple of surprises but by the sounds of it you all wrote some good stuff.

As we get towards the end of the year, we are starting to think about how we can improve GCSE Media for next year and we need your help - your opinion is by far the most important when it comes to how we teach the course. 

Please fill out the survey using the link below to tell us what you think - it is completely anonymous so we won't know who has said what. We need you to be as critical as possible because we always want to improve our teaching.

Thank you for your time and your hard work in Media this year!

Final preparation... URGENT half-term task list!

Complete the following tasks to make sure you are FULLY prepared for your Media Studies exam on the Music Press (Print/Online).

1. Ensure you have read and completed EVERY page in the revision booklet. Make sure you understand each key concept and how it links to the music press (print/online) – if you’re not sure, ask someone or Google it!
2. Find at least three of your own, original examples from the music press (print/online) that we HAVEN’T covered in class. These can be music magazines, websites, fanzines etc. Concentrate on the genre you have chosen. Write these on revision cards.
3. Research your chosen genre in depth. Who are the biggest artists? Who are the next big things? What do the fans of your genre like about the music and lifestyle? You need to know it INSIDE OUT.
4. Go on an online forum for your genre of music and see what the fans are saying. What kind of language do you they use? What are their interests? Write these notes on revision cards.
5. What representation of your genre or typical fan will you offer? Stereotypical? Unusual? Dangerous? Fun? Make a revision card with the heading ‘Representation’ and add these notes.
6. Read the brief again and makes notes on the key words and phrases.
7. Practice writing in-role. Use the language in the brief and example sentence starters to develop phrases that will help sell your idea to Revolutionary Publishing and Rhymix. 
8. Draw your Rhymix website page at least three times on A3 paper. By the end, you need to be able to design and colour it in 20 minutes. You also need to annotate it with the key conventions of a website (leave space around the side for adverts and annotations).
9. Make sure you have specific examples of audio and video content. Decide the actual video (artist/song) that you will have as embedded content. Decide what song you will have playing on a Rhymix Radio player. 
10. Storyboard a TV advert/online viral advert for your Rhymix website genre page (remember the logo, homepage design, colour scheme and featured artists would be the same as your current idea. However, you would have to add music, voiceover and camera shots/transitions). We don’t know what will come up in the exam so it is best to be prepared.

FINAL CHECKLIST...

Final check: do you know your idea for a Rhymix genre section in great detail? Is it original with a clear unique selling point (USP)? Can you confidently explain your idea in 15 minutes?

Final check: have you got a Rhymix logo, colour scheme and design style that you are absolutely confident on and can draw quickly?

Final check: do you know the key conventions for a website and can annotate them quickly?

Final check: have you written 20 minute answers to EVERY practice question in the revision booklet, using examples where appropriate?

Final check: are you confident writing in-role as if you were applying for a real job in the media?