Assignment 3 - Evaluation guidance

Evaluate your video production

Word count: 800 words (10 marks)

Optional essay plan

You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective.

Introduction (100 words)

• Introduce your brief and who you worked with (if applicable).
• Give a brief introduction to your TV programme: what is it about? What other programmes were you inspired by or did you watch as part of your research? On which channel, day and time would your programme be shown? How does your programme suit the style and audience of the institution?

Target audience (100 words)

• Outline your target audience (using detailed audience demographics: gender, age, social class, education or employment etc.)
• What Psychographic or Youth Facts groups (Armchair Rebels, Free Sprits etc.) do your target audience belong to? Why did you choose these in particular?

Close textual analysis of production (300 words)

• How does your TV show opening meet the key conventions of teen drama?
• Choose three or four key moments from your TV show opening and complete a detailed textual analysis justifying your creative decisions and explaining what the camerawork, editing, sound or mise-en-scene communicate to the audience.
• Explore the strengths and weaknesses of the key moments you have analysed and how you could have made the production more professional.

Representation (100 words)

• What representation of young people did you create in your production work? Was it a stereotypically negative representation of teenagers? (E.g. violent, involved in bad behaviour or crime etc.)
• Did you try to create a certain representation of young people? (E.g. positive, negative, shocking etc.) How would your target audience respond to your representation of young people?
• Did you create particular representations of any other groups in your production? (Men, women, age, race or ethnicity etc.)

Regulation and control (100 words)

• How did you make sure your TV programme could be shown before the watershed?
• How did you use your knowledge of Ofcom and the Broadcasting Code to ensure your TV programme didn’t cause offense? Was there anything you decided to leave out for these reasons?

Overall effectiveness/conclusion (100 words)

• How effective was your production overall?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of your project as a whole?
• Did you meet your brief?

Mark scheme:

Level 6 (9-10 marks)

They evaluate their products making cogent and critical connections between the experience of carrying out the production and all the key concepts. Evaluation responses are communicated using accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

KEYWORDS and CONCEPTS to use in your Evaluation:

Genre: hybrid, sub-genre etc.

Representation: of people/places/events; stereotypes, negative/positive representations.

Connotation: of colour, fonts, logos, institutional name and graphic, mise-en-scene, camera shots, camera movement etc.

Mise-en-scene: use of costume, lighting, actors, makeup, props, setting, (and what all these tell us about the characters/narrative).

Iconography: how does your TV opening use the iconography associated with the genre (e.g. character types, setting, props etc.)?

Institution: Who produces the drama? What channel broadcasts the drama?  What expectations will the audience have as a result?  Is the producer/channel famous for broadcasting any other popular teen dramas?  How will this attract a teen (or possibly wider) audience?

Target Audience and demographics: age, gender, social class (and how you know), audience theory (uses and gratifications).

Regulation and Control: watershed, Ofcom, Broadcasting Code, offensive content, protecting young people.

Show title and Tagline/Slogan: how are the titles and/or taglines used to anchor meaning and help you understand what the drama is all about?

Useful phrases to use when analysing or evaluating:

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

Existing product research

For your existing product research, you need to complete the following:

Research a minimum of five TV programme openings (aimed at a teenage audience).

Watch around two minutes for each show. If you can find the beginning of season 1, episode 1 for any programme that will be particularly helpful. YouTube is an obvious place to start to find clips but Art of the Title is also a brilliant resource to watch iconic film and TV opening sequences.

For each clip, you need to focus your research and analysis on a particular area:


Clip 1: NCIS analysis
Clip 2: Camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene analysis
Clip 3: Target audience analysis
Clip 4: Representation of young people analysis
Clip 5: General/combination of the above

Remember: your research is individual. You need to complete all of your research independently of your group.

Assignment 3 - initial tasks

You should now have a good idea about who you working with for Assignment 3 and what kind of TV programme opening you plan to make. The first stage of the project is Research and Planning and is worth 15 marks. You'll need to complete the following over the next two weeks:


- Research into similar products (annotated screengrabs from existing TV opening scenes aimed at teenagers
- Research into your target audience, which must include audience research (interviews, focus groups or questionnaires)
- Clear organisation of project schedule and mise-en-scene: casting, costumes, props, lighting and locations.
- Clear drafting: script, storyboard and shot list.
- Note: Research and planning is entirely individual and no more than 12 pages of research and planning can be submitted.

Initial tasks

In today's lesson you need to complete the following three tasks:

Task 1: Start your production blog

This will help you keep a record of all the work you have completed. Your first blog post needs to cover the following:

1. What your initial thoughts are about the brief: what kind of TV programme do you plan to make?
2. Who you plan to work with
3. What you hope to achieve in this assignment

Task 2: Planning your planning

Make a list of all the research and planning work you need to do for your project. Remember: this is individual. Example:

1. Research existing TV programme openings
2. Decide on target audience and design audience profile
3. Design and use audience research questionnaires
4. Write script...

Task 3: Project schedule

Produce a project schedule for the next seven weeks. You need to be organised and make sure you complete every part of the project: Research & planning, filming, editing and evaluation. The Excel spreadsheet template is on the VLE in Media Studies > Shared documents.

Example Institutional Information (for Analytical Task)

1. Research your film’s production company (i.e Warner Brothers, Paramount etc)

2. Explain how the institution has an impact on the promotion of your film (genre, budget, stars, etc)

Example paragraphs:

Shutter Island was produced by Paramount Pictures (they also produced The Lovely Bones, Iron Man 2, How To Train Your Dragon, Paranormal Activity). Paramount Pictures are part of a larger conglomerate called the Paramount Motion Pictures Group (World’s oldest film studio and a subsidiary of Viacom). They are a mainstream company appealing to the mass public with popular genres, well-known stars and big budgets.

Paramount Pictures promoted Shutter Island mainly through posters, trailers and the website. However the biggest reason for its success has been linked to its TV advertising campaign. Trailers we shown during the US Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics. The exposure the movie got with its advertising campaign during the popular Winter Olympics broadcasts was, according to The New York Times, a big reason for its success at the box-office in its opening weekend.

Assignment 2: Analytical task guidance

Analytical task: Compare the impact and effectiveness of two promotional methods used by one film.

Word count: 1,000-1,200 words (20 marks)

Optional essay plan
You may find the following useful. However, you do not have to follow it exactly and will be credited for alternative or original responses that are convincing and highly effective.

Introduction (50 words)

• Introduce the question and how it will be answered.
• Explain what film you have chosen and briefly describe the poster and trailer. 
• Provide some institutional background to the film (you will need to research this on imdb.co.uk)

Institutional information/background information (150 words)

• What companies/films studios created and distributed the film?
• Who directed/acted in/produced the film? 
• What genre does your film belong to?

Close textual analysis of film poster (250 words)

• Analyse the film poster in detail, writing about the key conventions and explaining why they are effective.
• What is the film’s unique selling point (USP)? 
• How does the poster make the most of the film’s USP?

Close textual analysis of film trailer(250 words)

• What institutional information appears in the trailer and when?
• Choose a few key scenes or ‘rich moments’ from the trailer and write a detailed analysis of why the trailer is effective and what impact it has on the audience.
• Use the media theories we have learned, e.g. Barthes’s enigma and action codes; Todorov’s equilibrium etc. 
• Compare the similarities and differences between the trailer and the poster – what remains consistent between the two? What differences can you find – and why are they different?
• What examples of synergy can you find (links between different media texts)

Representation (250 words)

• Write a paragraph (or two) discussing the representation of different people, places or groups in the trailer and poster (e.g. representation of women, men, race or ethnicity, a country or place etc.) 

Overall effectiveness (150 words)

• How effective was the film promotion you have chosen? 
• Use financial figures from your research (box office takings, opening weekend, box office against original budget etc.) to evaluate how successful the film promotion was.

Personal response/conclusion (100 words)

• How effective do you feel the film promotion is? Which is more successful: the poster or the trailer – or do they complement one another?

Mark scheme:

Level 6 (17–20 marks)
Candidates produce convincing and effective analyses of media texts. Media terminology is used extensively and effectively. The nature and impact of media representation is explored convincingly. There is a convincing and clear understanding and appreciation of institutional aspects of media production. Responses, including the explanation, are cogent and well structured with precise and accurate use of language and arguments clearly supported by evidence.

Assignment 2: December task list

1) Research and planning: find five film posters and five trailers for five different films and post them to your blog. Write an analysis to go with each one outlining the genre of the film, the key conventions of the poster/trailer and any interesting additional information such as the representation of people or places in the poster/trailer.

2) Brainstorm possible film ideas for your original film idea. Plan the following:

• Genre
• Title
• Narrative
• Characters/actors (advise not using major stars)

3) Write a film pitch for your original film idea.

Film pitch guidance

You need to create a sales pitch for an imaginary film of approximately 150 words. The pitch should be no longer than 150 words and begin with a ‘log line’. 

The pitch will include:

• A ‘log line’ (a one sentence summary of the film's narrative)
• brief reference to your film's genre
• brief reference to at least one similar film
• brief reference to the target audience for your film
• indication of main characters
• brief summary of narrative (what happens in the story)

Websites to help you:
scripthollywood: Hollywood script writing and film pitching 
BBC Writer’s Room: guidance for planning and writing creatively for TV and film

4) Plan your photoshoot for your film poster:

• Who will be in it?
• What location will you use?
• What costume and make-up is required?
• What type of shots are you planning?

5) Carry out your photoshoot, capture the images then design your film poster using Photoshop.

6) Plan your storyboard for your film trailer:

• Camera shots and transitions (remember: plenty of close-ups and fast-paced editing)
• The on-screen text you will include (e.g. release date)
• How your main characters will be introduced
• Script any dialogue in the trailer 
• The different locations your trailer will feature

7) Draw your storyboard on the official AQA storyboard sheets

8) Choose one of the five films you researched to be the film you will analyse in your 1,000 essay. Make sure there is enough for you to analyse.

9) Research the institutions behind the film (film studio, distributor etc.) and post what you find on your blog.

10) Analyse the representation of people, places, events or ideas in your chosen film and post your analysis on your blog.

GCSE Media homework 05/12/12

In class, you presented your table's film poster and trailer to the class, answering these five questions:

1. What is the genre of the film?
2. What key conventions of a film poster can you find?
3. What key conventions of a film trailer can you find?
4. What is the target audience for the film?
5. Why is the film promotion successful?

You now need to post your group's film poster and trailer on your blog with written answers to those five questions.

Due: Friday