YEAR 12 - It's PRODUCTION Time! ... Say goodbye to sleeeeep!!!!

THIS YEAR.... YOU get to select a brief... which means you have complete ownership over what you do and the pain and joy that will no doubt arise as you work through... THE MOST CHALLENGING WORK you have ever embarked on... No exaggeration - this is going to be a steep learning curve.. I fully expect tears and emotional breakdowns! Alongside moments of total glee and pride as you look at what you have produced!

So tell me below ... WHICH BRIEF do you like and WHY??

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BRIEF OPTION ONE

An independent British Film and Television production company, Prime Times Productions, has produced a feature film with a budget of £5 million pounds, partly supplied by lottery funding.

Prime Times has aspirations for its film to appeal to more than the mainstream 16-25 youth market and the distributors are looking to release the film in about twenty cinemas around the UK in the hope that it will ‘build’.Prime Times is also working on a new TV drama series aimed at youth audience and has produced the TV pilot for series.The TV pilot has been sold to the BBC’s digital channel, BBC3, which is targeting a youth audience and is hoping to challenge C4’s dominance in this market.

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BRIEF OPTION TWO

A regional newspaper is about to run a month long campaign promoting local sports. The newspaper has an online presence and is keen to use its website as a focus for information, as well as featuring a range of sports related features in its print product to broaden the reach of the promotion. Local businesses are helping to fund the promotion through advertising and sponsorship. You work for the newspaper and have been asked to produce materials to be included as part of the promotion.

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BRIEF OPTION THREE

You work for the marketing department of a small record company called Nutune Records, and are involved in the promotion of a new band/musical act for their forthcoming debut album and twelve date tour. 

As part of the promotion the act needs to create an image that will allow them to appeal to an audience with an interest in an established musical genre. The marketing materials should also contribute to constructing a recognisable ‘brand’ for the act. 

You are targeting a largely youth-based market but are keen to promote the act in a way that will appeal to more than just a niche audience. The act already has a Facebook and Myspace presence which has generated some interest and the record company now wishes to use more mainstream marketing techniques to reach a bigger and a more diverse audience.

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*** YOUR CHOICE ***  - Let me know what you're thinking..........

YEAR 13 - New Term - Let's Call it the PRODUCTION Term..

Happy New Year my dear students!!!

I hope you have all had a little rest and are ready and rearing to go on these very important production assignments.

WHERE YOU SHOULD BE NOW

As per your Production booklet - You should have
- Uploaded a re-drafted version of your CI onto your blog
- Submitted a hard copy to me - both the version with ALL your comments (and mine) and the new re-drafted version

- Updated your Intentions Statement 
- Completed a Production Planning Diary (see examples on Fronter)
- Completed the IMAGE Production Preparation plan (Collect from Fronter)
- Start working on your Mock Ups (read the booklet again to remind yourself how many versions to do and what they are meant to demonstrate...)

*Copies of All resources can be found in the Student resources section on Fronter (Room MEST4)

Remember deadlines are the latest you should do things, feel free to work ahead of them... room 022 should now be your home! I expect to see you there a lot!

* Tweet if you have any issues outside of lesson time!

Please write a comment on this blog post to confirm that you have read this and leave any questions you may have... 

YEAR 13 - Intentions Plan

INTENTIONS STATEMENT (500 Words)

REMEMBER - BE CREATIVE / DIFFERENT / INNOVATIVE. 

Don't just do the bog standard production, how can you stand out?!

Now that all your research is in and you have a real hold on this topic. 1**  Describe in detail what you intend to do for your production and HOW it is linked to your CI work. (Will you conform or subvert) 2** Use the mark scheme and discuss how your idea meets the criteria.  3** Produce a Production Diary. Write out a step by step plan of action for the completion of the Production. 4** Using the timeframe that you have been given. Set yourself interim deadlines for each step. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EXAMPLE Intentions Statement My linked production piece will be a 5 paged promotional feature in Fourfourtwo magazine on four footballers, three male and one female ranging from 16-21, who have been recently signed to Chelsea Football Club. The Promotional feature is a recent addition to the magazine and allows advertisers or football clubs the opportunity to promote products and players in a feature article. Powerade, Nike and Swindon Football club have all recently appeared in the promotional feature. For my article Chelsea FC will be using this feature article to promote their future English stars and start the rise in interest to the Women’s football. My linked production piece will conform to the codes and conventions of the magazine, whilst story and narrative will subvert the normal conventions of the magazine and sporting industry. As my critical investigation shows, sporting institutions focus on exploiting the top sporting heroes and are inclined to give female stars much less attention. I plan to subvert this by focusing my article on four new footballers and by giving the female footballer the biggest feature in the article. As they are young footballers they aren’t know yet and the focus on them is strictly on their talent. For my feature article I will need four main characters one being female and I will also need to set up a match play situation with around 14 to 22 players. Fourfourtwo use a lot of highly emotive action shots, so I’m going to need to catch shots of my characters looking intense and playing football. As well as this I’m going to need to take shots of the match play situation I’m going to organise. The content of the article will be focused around the feeling of getting signed to a premiership football club and the prejudices faced being a female footballer. Chelsea FC have been accused of buying their way to success and criticised for not producing that many young, fresh and exciting English players. This article will promote Chelsea FC’s ideologies as being hardworking and very patriotic, which my critical investigation shows is very important in sports, they will gain a positive reputation from this and in turn more fans meaning more profit. Given the fact that Fourfourtwo is a football magazine I’m going to need access to a football pitch as well as footballs and a lot of Chelsea FC gear to keep the creditability of the article. Fourfourtwo maintain a high quality of images so therefore I’m going to have to use a top quality camera and only take still images as video footage won’t produce the required quality. I plan to create my article on InDesign and edit my images on Photoshop because they are both actually used by magazine production companies and therefore allow for professional standards.

YEAR 12 - Your EXAM Case Study.. The Work Starts NOW....

Cross Media Case Study

You must walk into the exam with a thorough investigation of three media texts from the BROADCAST platform.

* They must all be linked in that they explore THE FAMILY.

* Although they are based primarily on the Broadcast platform, you must investigate how they use 'synergy' and utilise the Print and E-Media platforms also.

* Final outcome - You must submit a presentation on your case study - using media production skills (powerpoint, voice narration / audio - video clips etc)

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For your presentation - ALL Steps MUST be completed fully (For each TEXT!) - How you choose to do this is up to you. (suggestions are above)

STEPS - You must show evidence of all of this work.

Choose a text that explores THE FAMILY on Broadcast Fiction.

Analyse the audience, institution, representations and media language of that text (MIGRAIN)

Then you'll need to find out all you can about how and where it was promoted, looking at print, moving image and e-media. 

Lots of close analysis of the website(s) - what audiences (note the plural) are different elements of the sites aimed at etc.

Then look at promotion in print: magazines and newspaper reviews but also any other promotions involving the stars or competitions connected. 

Then you'll need to consider any other promotions in moving image, (trailer(s) but also on-the-sofa interviews on Breakfast TV / late night shows etc. 

Add to that anything else - the use of any other e-media / new technology promotions - endorsements etc.

Keep relating all of these back to how the text is aiming for the widest possible audiences (and therefore revenues!) and how it portrays THE FAMILY

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Bringing all three texts together in your discussion :

How are texts in the three platforms constructed?

• Are there similarities and differences in the way the area is dealt with in each platform?

• What type of media language is used and how?

• How are genre codes used?

• How do texts within the three platforms construct narrative?


How do audiences access texts across the three platforms?

• Do the texts enable different types of audience activity and/or interaction?

• Are audiences able to play a role in the construction of media texts? (UGC)

• Are there differences in the audience gratifications offered across the three platforms?


How are representations constructed and are there similarities and/or differences across the platforms?

• What values and ideologies are communicated within the representation?


What institutional issues are raised by the topic areas?

• How are institutions reacting to change in technology?

• How are institutions attempting to reach and engage their audiences?

• What economic issues are behind the construction and distribution of contemporary media texts?


Keywords/issues:
synergy, intertextuality, cross-media promotion, public service remit and other obligations, censorship & control, news and entertainment values, the technologies used in the production and reception process.

DEADLINE - TUESDAY 13TH