Refer to the conventions of real media texts and both your first and second year productions?

Three examples from both

Specific vocabulary and generic conventions

Narrative conventions

AS opening sequence

·         We looked at signs opening sequence the soundtrack

A2 teaser Trailer, Magazine and Poster

·         Looked at real magazines such as Total Film and Empire and took ideas from that 

·         Didn’t use actors names within the subtitles

·         Looked at real film trailers

For AS I had to create an opening sequence and for A2 I had to create a film campaign which involved making a teaser trailer, a magazine cover and a poster. Both pieces of coursework involved an element of filming; while only the A2 coursework involved using Photoshop to create two of the products asked for.

Before starting my opening sequence I had to first complete a preliminary task in which we had to make sure it included a match on action shot and an over the shoulder shot. By doing this preliminary task we got a feel of how to use the camera and how to edit our work.

To create an opening sequence to the best of my ability I watched real opening sequences on YouTube to help me get ideas, I watched ‘Signs’ opening sequence, by watching this it helped me to get an idea of what soundtrack would be best to use in my opening sequence as the context of the film was similar to what we wanted to portray in our opening sequence. I watched a variety of other opening sequences and found that most used the music to create a feeling within the audience. I also took notes on the camerawork that was used in some of the opening sequences I found that in horror/thriller opening sequences a lot of close ups and long shots were used.

My A2 coursework involved a lot more research as there were more products to create, for the teaser trailer I looked at real teaser trailers of different genres of films to get a feel of how different genres used different camera angles and editing. Once we chose what genre we wanted to do which was thriller/horror, I focused more on those type genre teaser trailers, as the editor I looked at the editing and music more than anything, I found that both the editing and soundtrack were fast paced which added to the suspense and tension of it, we used fast editing and soundtracks in our teaser trailer as we wanted it to be as real as possible, in our teaser trailer we didn’t use titles of actors names unlike most real teaser trailers we did this because although we wanted it to look real we didn’t want the attention to be taken off of the contents of the teaser trailer. To create the poster and magazine cover I looked at real ones such as the poster for The Strangers and Dead Silence, and for the magazine I looked at Total Film and Empire. I looked at these and took ideas from them and stuck to the layout of them so mine looked as real as possible.

Syd Field - Three Act Structure

The three act structure is a way of dividing screenplay into three parts the setup, the confrontation and the resolution.

The first act is to find out who the main characters are, their relationships and the world they live in. An incident occurs which the main protagonist character tries to deal with which later leads to a second incident which is a more dramatic situation, known as the first turning point. Which allows the audience to identify three things...

1. Signals the end of the first act 
2. Ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist
3. Raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film

The dramatic question should be framed in terms of the protagonist's call to action. This is known as the inciting incident, or catalyst.

The second act, which is also known as 'rising action' is the protagonist's attempt to solve the problem shown by the first turning point, only to find themselves in a situation that keeps getting worse. Part of the reason protagonists seem unable to solve their problems is because they don't have the skills to deal with the protagonist. They have to learn new skills and figure who they are and what they are capable of, which in the end changes who they are.

The third act shows how the story and subplots within the film are resolved. The climax,or 'the second turning point', is the scene or sequence where the problems/incidents of the story are brought to their most intense point and the dramatic question which the audience see in the first act is answered, leaving the protagonist and other characters with a new feeling of who they really are.

G325 Exam

In the exam there are 2 sections (section A and B) in which we have to answer 3 questions.

In section A there are 2 questions.

Question 1a - we have to write about both our AS and A2 coursework relating to...

·         Digital Technology

·         Creativity

·         Research and Planning

·         Post-production

·         Using conventions from real media texts

We have to describe and evaluate the skills we have acquired and how they have developed

Question 1b - we have to choose to write about either our AS or A2 coursework relating to...

·         Genre

·         Narrative

·         Representation

·         Audience

·         Media Language

In section B there is only 1 question (question 2) which is about Media and the online age. We’re focusing on film and music.