OCR A2 FROM SEPTEMBER 2009:
Advanced Portfolio in Media
[text from specification]
The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3);
secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2);
and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4). The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity to develop their own skills in these technologies. It also
enables them to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.
This is a coursework unit. Centres must set the brief from the menu below, though they may define more precise details in negotiation with candidates. From this brief, candidates will produce:
• a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts;
• a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in electronic format.
The media portfolio will be produced through a combination of two or more of the following media:
• Video
• Print
• Web-based
• Audio
• Games Software
The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:
• a presentation using slideshow software such as Powerpoint;
• a blog or website; we are doing this
• a podcast;
• a DVD with ‘extras’- and we may do this as well for the films
Production work for the main text in the Advanced Portfolio may be in the same medium as AS work (in order to allow for the development of skills within a particular medium) or a different medium (in order to allow for breadth of experience of different media forms). The ancillary tasks will ensure that all candidates have the opportunity to explore a different medium at some point in their production work.
The production element and presentation of research, planning and evaluation may be individual or group work (maximum group size is four candidates). Where candidates have worked in a group, the evidence for assessment may be presented collectively but centres will still assess candidates on an individual basis for their contribution to aspects of the work, from planning, research and production to evaluation.
Though there is no formal individual essay component for this unit, in the G324 examination, candidates will be asked to write about the work undertaken from this unit and from the AS coursework unit. It is therefore recommended that candidates undertake some form of written reflection as practice for the exam.
G324 is marked and internally standardised by the centre and marks are submitted to OCR by a specified date, a sample is then selected for external moderation. The unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for the planning and research and its presentation; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation.
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
• What have you learned from your audience feedback?
• How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
To avoid excessive overlap with AS briefs and to ensure an appropriate level of demand as a step up from AS, the following form the menu of set tasks at A2. All briefs require the production of
three media products, one major piece and two ancillary products. The menu allows candidates to work in just two media, or to explore three different media.
The Brief
2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
• a website homepage for the film;
• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film you made a trailer for;
• a poster for the film [A3].
A2 Unit G325: Critical Perspectives in Media
[text from specification]
The purpose of this unit is to assess candidates’ knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates, through their understanding of one contemporary media issue and
their ability to evaluate their own practical work in reflective and theoretical ways.
The examination is two hours. Candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions, on their own production work, and one question from a choice of six topic areas. The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with the two questions on production work marked out of 25 each, and the media theory question marked out of 50.
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production (50 marks)
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues (50 marks)
Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production
Candidates answer two compulsory questions. The first requires them to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The second asks them to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical concept.
Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. The focus of this
evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two specific production practices.
The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:
• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and Planning
• Post-production
• Using conventions from real media texts
In the examination, questions will be posed using one or two of these categories.
Where candidates have produced relevant work outside the context of their A Level media course, they are free to additionally refer to this experience.
Question 1(b) requires candidates to select one production and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. The list of concepts to which questions will relate is as follows:
• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media Language
In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.
In some circumstances, candidates will be expected to select the production that appears to relate most effectively to the specific concept that arises in the exam question. However, the requirement
for candidates to evaluate one of their productions in relation to a concept does not assume that the concept will necessarily always fit easily and in an orthodox way.
Thus in some cases candidates will be describing their productions in terms of them not relating straightforwardly to the concept. For example, a candidate producing three websites over their two portfolios might describe ways in which websites cannot be understood easily through applying conventional narrative theory.
Whether the candidate applies the concept to the product or uses the production to challenge the concept, it is essential that candidates are sufficiently knowledgeable about the concept for either approach.
Candidates may choose to write about work undertaken at AS or A2,
main task or preliminary/ancillary.
Section B: Contemporary Media Issues
One question to be answered from a choice of six topic areas offered by OCR. There will be two questions from each topic area.
The topic areas require understanding of contemporary media texts, industries, audiences and debates.
Candidates must choose one of the following topic areas, in advance of the examination and, through specific case studies, texts, debates and research of the candidates’ choice, prepare to demonstrate understanding of the contemporary issue.
This understanding must combine knowledge of at least two media and a range of texts, industries, audiences and debates, but these are to be selected by the centre / candidate. The assessment of the response will be generic, allowing for the broadest possible range of responses within the topic area chosen.
Each topic is accompanied by four prompt questions, and candidates must be prepared to answer an exam question that relates to one or more of these four prompts. There should be emphasis on the
historical, the contemporary and the future in relation to the chosen topic, with most attention on the present. Centres are thus advised to ensure that study materials for this unit are up to date and relevant.
Candidates may choose to focus on one of the following contemporary media issues:
• Contemporary Media Regulation
• Global Media
• Media and Collective Identity - we are doing this option
• Media in the Online Age
• Post-modern Media
• ‘We Media’ and Democracy
Topic Content Prompts
Candidates are free to study any media texts, theories, case studies, debates and issues, providing they relate to the four prompts for the topic area selected. The exam question will relate to one or more of the prompts.
Media and Collective Identity
.How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in different ways?
.How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?
.What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?
.To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?
Candidates might explore combinations of any media representation across two media, or two different representations across two media. Some examples are:
National cinema, television representations, magazines and gender, representations of youth and youth culture, post-9/11 representations of Islam, absence / presence of people with disability in two media.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
New OCR Specification and syllabus
Welcome to the Media Studies blog; it is designed to help you once you are out of school, for example to revise from during the holidays.
The OCR exam board have changed and re-vamped the syllabus; now there will be two Units per year:
OCR AS Level: Unit 1 - Foundation Portfolio in Media
The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3);
secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2);
and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4).
The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity for development of skills in these technologies.
This is a coursework unit, internally assessed and externally moderated. Candidates produce two paired media artefacts in response to briefs set by OCR plus some appropriate evidence of research and planning.
Set briefs are paired in order to provide progression from a pre-production, preliminary exercise to a more fully realised piece and will be in the same medium. This offers the opportunity for skills development to be assessed, as well as a final finished piece.
Video
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it.
Candidates will evaluate their work electronically, this evaluation being guided by a set of key questions on a proforma to be completed by the teacher. The format of the discussion has some flexibility and its form can be negotiated between teacher and student: it may take place with individual candidates or with the production group as a whole, or each individual candidate or production group may make a formal or informal presentation to the whole class.
The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:
• a presentation using slideshow software such as Powerpoint;
• a blog or website;
• a podcast;
• a DVD with ‘extras’.
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The production element and presentation of research and planning may be individual or group work (maximum group size is four candidates). Where candidates have worked in a group, the
evidence for assessment may be presented collectively but centres will still assess candidates on an individual basis for their contribution to aspects of the work, from planning, research and production to evaluation.
G321 is marked and internally standardised by the centre and marks are submitted to OCR by a specified date, a sample is then selected for external moderation. The unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for the presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation.
AS UNIT 2:
Key Media Concepts (TV Drama)
[text from specification]
The purpose of these units is first to assess candidates’ media textual analysis skills and their understanding of the concept of representation using a short unseen moving image extract (AO1,
AO2);
second to assess candidates’ knowledge and understanding of media institutions and their production processes, distribution strategies, use of technologies and related issues concerning audience reception and consumption of media texts (AO1, AO2):
The examination is two hours (including 30 minutes for viewing and making notes on the moving image extract) and candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions. The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with each question marked out of 50.
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation (50 marks)
Section B: Institutions and Audiences (50 marks)
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation
An ‘unseen’ moving image extract with one compulsory question dealing with textual analysis of various technical aspects of the languages and conventions of moving image media. Candidates
will be asked to link this analysis with a discussion of some aspect of representation within the sequence.
The moving image extract will be provided by OCR in DVD format, with full instructions for the administration of the examination, viewing conditions and note-making time. Centres must prepare candidates in advance of the examination, using a range of examples from texts from the genre stated below, to demonstrate textual analysis of all of the following technical areas of moving image language and conventions in relation to the unseen extract:
• Camera Angle, Shot, Movement and Composition
• Mise-en-Scène
• Editing
• Sound
The focus of study for Section A is the use of technical aspects of the moving image medium to create meaning for an audience, focussing on the creation of representations of specific social
types, groups, events or places within the extract. It is not necessary to study the history of the genre specified. Centres should use examples of the genre specified with their candidates to prepare them for undertaking unseen textual analysis.
For examination in 2009, 2010 and 2011:
The unseen moving image extract will be four to five minutes long and will be from the following genre:
TV Drama
The sequence will be taken from a contemporary British one-off or series or serial drama programme.
Guidance is given below regarding the administration of the examination. There will be viewing and note-making time for Section A. The timings and rules for viewing of extract and note-making will
be explained.
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
One compulsory question to be answered by candidates based upon a case study of a specific media industry, from a choice of six topic areas offered by OCR.
Centres should choose one of the following topic areas, in advance of the examination. Through specific case studies of the centre’s choice, candidates should be prepared to demonstrate understanding of contemporary institutional processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange/exhibition at a local, national or international level as well as British audiences’ reception and consumption. There should also be some emphasis on the students’ own experiences of being audiences of a particular medium. Centres may choose to focus on one of the following media industries:
• Film - we are doing this option
• Music
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Magazines
• Video Games
Set Topic Content
The content below represents what candidates should learn and is also provided as the source of the questions in the examination papers.
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation
Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following: technical aspects of the language and conventions of the moving image medium, in relation to the unseen moving image extract, as appropriate to the genre and extract specified, in order to discuss the sequence’s representation of individuals, groups, events or places:
Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition
• Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot, and variations of these.
• Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.
• Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.
• Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.
Editing
Includes transition of image and sound – continuity and non-continuity systems.
• Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting, parallel editing, cutaway; insert.
• Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.
Sound
• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound perspective.
• Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.
Mise-en-Scène
• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.
• Lighting; colour design.
It is acknowledged that not every one of the above technical areas will feature in equal measure in any given extract. Therefore examiners are instructed to bear this in mind when marking the
candidates’ answers and will not expect each aspect will be covered in the same degree of detail, but as appropriate to the extract provided and to the discussion of representation.
Candidates should be prepared to discuss, in response to the question, how these technical elements create specific representations of individuals, groups, events or places and help to
articulate specific messages and values that have social significance. Particular areas of representation that may be chosen are:
• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Class and status
• Physical ability/disability
• Regional identity
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based upon one of the specified media areas. Examples may include the following:
Film
A study of a specific studio or production company within a contemporary film industry that targets a British audience (eg Hollywood, Bollywood, UK film), including its patterns of production,
distribution, exhibition and consumption by audiences. This should be accompanied by study of contemporary film distribution practices (digital cinemas, DVD, HD-DVD, downloads, etc) and their impact upon production, marketing and consumption.
The OCR exam board have changed and re-vamped the syllabus; now there will be two Units per year:
OCR AS Level: Unit 1 - Foundation Portfolio in Media
[text from specification]
The purpose of this unit is firstly to assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills (AO3);
secondly to assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created (AO2);
and finally to assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research (AO4).
The unit requires candidates to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving them the opportunity for development of skills in these technologies.
This is a coursework unit, internally assessed and externally moderated. Candidates produce two paired media artefacts in response to briefs set by OCR plus some appropriate evidence of research and planning.
Set briefs are paired in order to provide progression from a pre-production, preliminary exercise to a more fully realised piece and will be in the same medium. This offers the opportunity for skills development to be assessed, as well as a final finished piece.
Video
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
Each candidate will evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it.
Candidates will evaluate their work electronically, this evaluation being guided by a set of key questions on a proforma to be completed by the teacher. The format of the discussion has some flexibility and its form can be negotiated between teacher and student: it may take place with individual candidates or with the production group as a whole, or each individual candidate or production group may make a formal or informal presentation to the whole class.
The presentation of the research, planning and evaluation may take the form of any one, or combination of two or more, of the following:
• a presentation using slideshow software such as Powerpoint;
• a blog or website;
• a podcast;
• a DVD with ‘extras’.
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:
• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
• How does your media product represent particular social groups?
• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
• Who would be the audience for your media product?
• How did you attract/address your audience?
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The production element and presentation of research and planning may be individual or group work (maximum group size is four candidates). Where candidates have worked in a group, the
evidence for assessment may be presented collectively but centres will still assess candidates on an individual basis for their contribution to aspects of the work, from planning, research and production to evaluation.
G321 is marked and internally standardised by the centre and marks are submitted to OCR by a specified date, a sample is then selected for external moderation. The unit is marked out of a total of 100 marks: 20 marks for the presentation of the planning and research; 60 marks for the construction; 20 marks for the evaluation.
AS UNIT 2:
Key Media Concepts (TV Drama)
[text from specification]
The purpose of these units is first to assess candidates’ media textual analysis skills and their understanding of the concept of representation using a short unseen moving image extract (AO1,
AO2);
second to assess candidates’ knowledge and understanding of media institutions and their production processes, distribution strategies, use of technologies and related issues concerning audience reception and consumption of media texts (AO1, AO2):
The examination is two hours (including 30 minutes for viewing and making notes on the moving image extract) and candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions. The unit is marked out of a total of 100, with each question marked out of 50.
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation (50 marks)
Section B: Institutions and Audiences (50 marks)
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation
An ‘unseen’ moving image extract with one compulsory question dealing with textual analysis of various technical aspects of the languages and conventions of moving image media. Candidates
will be asked to link this analysis with a discussion of some aspect of representation within the sequence.
The moving image extract will be provided by OCR in DVD format, with full instructions for the administration of the examination, viewing conditions and note-making time. Centres must prepare candidates in advance of the examination, using a range of examples from texts from the genre stated below, to demonstrate textual analysis of all of the following technical areas of moving image language and conventions in relation to the unseen extract:
• Camera Angle, Shot, Movement and Composition
• Mise-en-Scène
• Editing
• Sound
The focus of study for Section A is the use of technical aspects of the moving image medium to create meaning for an audience, focussing on the creation of representations of specific social
types, groups, events or places within the extract. It is not necessary to study the history of the genre specified. Centres should use examples of the genre specified with their candidates to prepare them for undertaking unseen textual analysis.
For examination in 2009, 2010 and 2011:
The unseen moving image extract will be four to five minutes long and will be from the following genre:
TV Drama
The sequence will be taken from a contemporary British one-off or series or serial drama programme.
Guidance is given below regarding the administration of the examination. There will be viewing and note-making time for Section A. The timings and rules for viewing of extract and note-making will
be explained.
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
One compulsory question to be answered by candidates based upon a case study of a specific media industry, from a choice of six topic areas offered by OCR.
Centres should choose one of the following topic areas, in advance of the examination. Through specific case studies of the centre’s choice, candidates should be prepared to demonstrate understanding of contemporary institutional processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange/exhibition at a local, national or international level as well as British audiences’ reception and consumption. There should also be some emphasis on the students’ own experiences of being audiences of a particular medium. Centres may choose to focus on one of the following media industries:
• Film - we are doing this option
• Music
• Newspapers
• Radio
• Magazines
• Video Games
Set Topic Content
The content below represents what candidates should learn and is also provided as the source of the questions in the examination papers.
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation
Candidates should be prepared to analyse and discuss the following: technical aspects of the language and conventions of the moving image medium, in relation to the unseen moving image extract, as appropriate to the genre and extract specified, in order to discuss the sequence’s representation of individuals, groups, events or places:
Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition
• Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot, and variations of these.
• Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.
• Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.
• Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.
Editing
Includes transition of image and sound – continuity and non-continuity systems.
• Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting, parallel editing, cutaway; insert.
• Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.
Sound
• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound perspective.
• Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.
Mise-en-Scène
• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.
• Lighting; colour design.
It is acknowledged that not every one of the above technical areas will feature in equal measure in any given extract. Therefore examiners are instructed to bear this in mind when marking the
candidates’ answers and will not expect each aspect will be covered in the same degree of detail, but as appropriate to the extract provided and to the discussion of representation.
Candidates should be prepared to discuss, in response to the question, how these technical elements create specific representations of individuals, groups, events or places and help to
articulate specific messages and values that have social significance. Particular areas of representation that may be chosen are:
• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Class and status
• Physical ability/disability
• Regional identity
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based upon one of the specified media areas. Examples may include the following:
Film
A study of a specific studio or production company within a contemporary film industry that targets a British audience (eg Hollywood, Bollywood, UK film), including its patterns of production,
distribution, exhibition and consumption by audiences. This should be accompanied by study of contemporary film distribution practices (digital cinemas, DVD, HD-DVD, downloads, etc) and their impact upon production, marketing and consumption.
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