PROJECT GUIDANCE

Project guidance
All the guidance you need to successfully complete your project is now on the blog. There are posts on the topics listed below. There will not be time in lessons to read through everything with you so it is important you do this yourselves. So please make sure you go through the guidance and ask questions if you have any - if you don't ask, we will assume you have read the guidance and know what to do.

Blog posts/ guidance:

• Important dates and deadlines until the end of term
• How the project will be assessed
• How to prepare your blogs for assessment
• The Evaluation
• The Portfolio (research, planning and production)
• How to arrange an audience feedback session
• Possible questions to ask your target audience

What's happening in Media before the end of term

Week beginning 21st March

• Lessons - going over the evaluation questions and preparing your answers
• Homework - preparing your evaluation draft answers and getting ready for your audience feedback session
• Please make sure you have your Foundation Coursework folders with you every day from now on
• Mrs Dymioti and I are at a conference on Friday - the dept will still be open and you will need to attend your lessons (Chris will register you). You can use the time to answer do your evalaution responses and prepare for your audience feedback sessions

Week beginning 28th March

• Lessons - draft answers checks and exam revision sessions
• Homework - continuing with evaluation and portfolio

Week beginning 4th April - final week of term

• Lessons - final project sign-off
• Homework - exam revision
• No school on Friday, so no 12C and 12E double lessons that day
• Thurs P6 12C - lesson cancelled assuming all projects successfully signed off beforehand

IMPORTANT DATES + DEADLINES

1. Draft evaluation answers
MONDAY 28th MARCH

2. Final project (portfolio and evalaution)
TUESDAY 5TH APRIL
Sign-off will be done during the double lessons in the morning 

Please note Ms Blackborow will be using the following lessons to discuss exam revision:
12C Tues 29th March P6+7
12E Weds 30th March P2+3
Please bring your Film industry folder to these lessons

Mrs Dymioti will let you know which lessons she will be using for discussion of TV drama revision

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS FOR YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK SESSION

Demographics - sample questions
Age:
Male or Female
Film likes/dislikes
Regular cinema goer?
Film fan?

Responses - sample questions:
1. What is the film’s title?
2. What genre do you think it is? What made you think this?
3. Is it supposed to be a mainstream blockbuster type of film, or a smaller independent production?
4. What type of cinema would you expect it to be shown in (big multiplex like ‘Vue’ or ‘Cineworld’, or an independent one off like ‘Screen on the Green’, or ‘The Phoenix’)?
5. Who do you think it’s suitable for/ targeted at (age, gender, tastes etc)?
6. Can you identify the characters you have seen (who they are, the role they play, the relationship between them)
7. Please describe what happens in the sequence
8. What do you think this film is actually about? (themes eg revenge, stalking, gang violence etc)
9. Do you think the opening sequence works (does it introduce the film successfully, the characters, the genre, the narrative)?
10. What, in your opinion, works particularly well in this sequence?
11. What, in your opinion, could be improved?
12. Would you want to watch the rest of the film, based on what you’ve seen so far?
13. Can you rate this opening sequence out of 10?

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HOLDING AUDIENCE FEEDBACK SESSIONS?
There are many reasons for gathering audience feedback on your finished sequence
1. It will help you understand the relationship between the text and the audience better
2. It will help you explore whether your film makes sense to the audience or not
3. It will help you understand whether your film actually appeals to your target audience and if so how
4. It will be useful to observe the audience reacting to your film
5. The responses will provide you with some useful research evidence
6. The responses will help you answer the 2 audience questions in the evaluation

QUESTION: WHO SHOULD WE ASK?
Firstly, anyone who is a member of the target audience you were aiming to appeal to. Secondly, anyone who you think might be able to give you some useful opinions on your film.

QUESTION: HOW SHOULD WE GO ABOUT THIS?
The best ways to do this are:
1. Plan a screening in school organised by your group
2. Plan a screening at home organised individually
3. Post your work online and see if you get any comments that way
It may be a good idea to do all 3, if it gives you a better range of audiences and opinions. Obviously, you will need a copy of your film, some quiet space and some questions or maybe even a questionnaire

QUESTION: HOW AND WHEN CAN WE ORGANISE A SCREENING IN SCHOOL?
There are some standard guidelines to follow in this respect, in order to ensure your screening is professional and goes smoothly :
1. Screenings can be organised in the week of March 28th Tues to Fri at 12.45pm.
2. To book, you will need to see Ms Blackborow. We can hold a maximum of 2 screenings each day
3. You will need to publicise your screening
4. You will need to photocopy your questionaires well in advance of the session
5. You will need to liaise with Chris in advance to make sure the video clip is on the M drive in the right place, and that it is the correct version.You should check in advance that you know how to turn the projector on, and how to control the sound levels, and have a tech run-through to ensure all goes smoothly
6. You will all need to turn up at 12.30 on the day to prepare the room and get the technology ready
7. You would be advised to delegate the jobs that will need to be done during the session - a door greeter, handing out questionnaires, welcoming the audeince and explaining what is going to happen, actually playing the film, collecting in the feedback etc
7. You will be expected to be responsible for your guests and to manage the sessions sensibly
8. The room will need to be left tidy and back in its original order by 1.30 each day - no overruns allowed
10. Bear in mind there will be other activities going on in the Media Dept that day - please be sensitive to this

QUESTION: WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD WE ASK OUR AUDIENCE?
ANSWER: any questions whose answers would help you explore your film better in your evaluation. We have a sample list of questions that you may want to use as a guideline - see the relevant post on this

COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT

QUESTION: HOW IS OUR COURSEWORK ASSESSED?
ANSWER: SEE BELOW
This is directly lifted from the syllabus:

"Where candidates have worked in a group (maximum group size is four candidates) 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."

So your teachers will mark your work, and will be required to fill in a cover sheet that breaks down the marks and explains why you were awarded the marks you were given for each of the assessment criteria, which are:
1. Research and planning
2. Construction
3. Evaluation
You will be given a copy of the cover sheet to keep, so you can see how you did and read the comments.

QUESTION: HOW MANY MARKS CAN WE GAIN AND HOW ARE THESE BROKEN DOWN?
ANSWER: 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

• For planning and research, you are marked on your contributions to the group process (10 marks) as well as on your individual blog (10 marks).
• For production, you are marked on the finished piece (40 marks) as well as your individual contributions to the production process (20 marks)
• For the evaluation, you are marked individually out of 20

QUESTION: HOW MANY MARKS DO WE NEED TO SCORE FOR AN A?
ANSWER:
90% is the equivalent to an A*
80% to an A and so on.

But we will actually mark you according to levels, not grades. The number mark you receive will then be converted into a grade. See your foundation folder for the full details on levels, marks and grades.

THE EVALUATION

QUESTION: WHAT ARE THE EVALUATION QUESTIONS?

ANSWER: THERE ARE 7 QUESTIONS, THEY ARE LISTED HERE:
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

QUESTION: HOW SHOULD WE POST OUR ANSWERS?
ANSWER: HERE ARE SOME GUIDELINES ON POSTING YOUR ANSWERS:
1. Your evaluation should form part of your individual blog
2. Put the question as the heading for each evaluation answer post
3. When completing posts to answer these questions, always label with EVALUATION as well as the specific question number ie QUESTION 1, QUESTION 2 etc. One post per question/ answer.
4. Your answers MUST answer the question as set. Make sure you specifically answer the question, right at the start of your post. Then go onto develop/ illustrate your answer. If previous posts are relevant, work these into your answer.

QUESTION: WHAT IS EXPECTED FOR A LEVEL 4 EVALUATION?
ANSWER:
1. Application of theory to your own and real film openings
2. Analysis of your own and real film openings
3. A good range of examples to support points made
4. Well prepared, thoughtful answers that demonstrate wider understanding of
• film audiences
• film institutions
• forms and conventions (genre, film openings)
• representation
• new technologies

4. Creative, imaginative and visual presentation of answers that exploits the full range of opportunities provided by the blog format (please note: an essay is NOT acceptable). You would be expected to include video clips, stills, diagrams and sketches, moodboards, tables, charts, lists, bullet points, headings and sub headings and so on - in the same way that you did for your prelim evaluation (which you will need to have a look over anyway, for Q7)

QUESTION: WHAT FEEDBACK CAN WE GET ON OUR EVALUATION ANSWERS?
ANSWER: You will need to produce a basic draft of your evaluation answers in WORD for your teachers to check. There is no need to include anything other than the actual answer itself, in basic paragraphs. We will check through them, with you, during lessons to make sure you are going along the right lines. No work, no feedback.

QUESTION: HOW LONG HAVE WE GOT TO PRODUCE THE DRAFT?
ANSWER: You have 1 week to complete this. You will then have until the final deadline to post your final answers and finish off your portfolio.

APART FROM THIS BLOG, IS THERE ANYWHERE ELSE WE CAN GET HELP WITH THIS WORK?
ANSWER: yes there is!
1. Have a look at some of last year's evaluations; follow the links to the group blogs and choose some individual blogs to look at
2. Read through your foundation folder, there are plenty of theory revision/ summary pages which we especially included to help you at this stage.

Deadline for draft portfolio answers
12C + E: Monday 28th March by the lesson

PORTFOLIO: PRODUCTION EVIDENCE

This is about production and post-production ie anything completed during the shooting stage and the editing stage. The main form of evidence is your finished opening sequence.

But you could also include:

For your individual blog:

• personal comments and reflections on the shoots/editing process
• a list of your personal contributions/achievements
• what you think you learnt during this stage
• what you think your/the group did well
• what you think could have been done differently/ better
• documentary photos/ video clips of you in action on set
• documentary photos/ video clips of you in action at the edit suite

For the group blog:

• shoot organisation form
• equipment release form 
• shotlogs
• any evidence of any re-shoots
• documentary production photos/ video clips of the group in action on set
• documentary post-production photos/video clips of the group in action at the edit suite

PORTFOLIO: RESEARCH EVIDENCE

QUESTION: WHAT KINDS OF RESEARCH IS EXPECTED?
For this project, research is normally undertaken into film audiences, films, film openings, genres, genre conventions, film styles and film making techniques.

QUESTION: WHAT CONSTITUTES LEVEL 4 RESEARCH?
For level 4, we would expect to see research that 
1. is relevant
2. is varied
3. was carried out independently
3. demonstrates what you learnt by undertaking it

QUESTION: WHAT KINDS OF RESEARCH HAVE WE DONE THAT WE COULD SUBMIT AS EVIDENCE?

1. Individual research into any of the theories explored in class during the foundation teaching stage - into genre, narrative, theorists, continuity etc. (You did this kind of thing as homework tasks well before you started the group project. As long as you did it yourself, this counts as research and can be submitted via your individual blog. Homework labels MUST be removed). This work could meet the criteria for Level 3.

2. Research completed during the early ideas stage of the group project. If you did any individual research (eg into openings/films/genres) to inspire your individual ideas, then this counts as research evidence and can be submitted via your individual blog. This only refers to any research undertaken BEFORE the final idea was chosen by the group. This research could meet the criteria for Level 4.

3. Research completed once an idea was being considered or had been chosen by the group: from this stage on any research completed should be on the group blog, and labelled according to the individuals who produced it. It would probably have been undertaken to inspire, inform or influence your group's final idea and should demonstrate direct relevance to your group's plans. It might include research into audiences, films and film openings, characters, scripts, mise-en-scene, titles, graphics, editing style etc - anything that was of particular relevance to the development of your specific project. For example, the work you did for your pitch/ presentation provides good evidence of this research. This research could meet the criteria for level 4.

PLEASE NOTE: Do not delete any research that was no longer relevant once the project changed direction - just make sure it is clear that the research was relevant to the first or 2nd, but not the final idea.  

4. Any audience feedback gathered once the project has been completed can be submitted as research evidence. If you organise this on behalf of the group (ie a screening/ focus group organised in school), it should be submitted via the group blog. If you organise it purely for your own personal use (ie with family/friends at home), then it should be submitted via your individual blog, and is not the property of the rest of the group. This research could meet the criteria for Level 4.

BLOG ADVICE

Please consider the labelling of your posts - this is essential. Navigating our way around your blogs is a difficult task if you don't do this properly, and making things difficult for the examiner could cost you marks.
So make things really easy for those of us allocating you MARKS by doing the following:

1.Every post must be labelled and should have a clear heading.

2. Label all posts either -  preliminary task, research, planning, production or evaluation  - this is essential. On the group blog, each post should also be labelled with the name of the individual (s) responsible for the information posted. On your individual blog, anything done as homework in the early days, should be re-labelled as research. No other labels should be used - they must be removed.

3. Please ensure your prelim video and main task video are posted at the top of the blog - not as part of a post. These must be labelled clearly eg: Preliminary task and Final Opening Sequence

4. Make sure the basics of your blogs are all PERFECT:

• check all your links are still live
• check your photo is the one you want the examiner to see
• make sure your links between the group blog, individual blogs and the class blog all work properly

5. You will need a final closing post on each blog - see the relevant guidelines on this.

PORTFOLIO: PLANNING EVIDENCE

1. THE MORE INTERESTING, VISUAL AND CREATIVE YOUR EVIDENCE LOOKS THE BETTER.
 
2. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY IS WHAT MATTERS!
 
3. IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION THAT IS NOT ANSWERED HERE, DON'T HESITATE TO ASK CHRIS, MS BLACKBOROW OR MRS DYMIOTI - WE'RE HERE TO HELP! 
 
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS + ANSWERS ABOUT PLANNING
QUESTION: WHAT SORTS OF EVIDENCE WILL SCORE YOU PLANNING MARKS?
 Answer: Basically anything you did from the time you started coming up with ideas right through to the actual shoot itself. We need to be clear what the group did to ensure production would go smoothly, but we also need to be clear what you individually did to contribute to this process.

QUESTION: WHAT PLANNING EVIDENCE SHOULD BE ON MY INDIVIDUAL BLOG?
Answer: Individual early ideas, proposals, brainstorms - anything you prepared individually in the early days up to the point when the group decided to move forward with one idea. This is evidence of PLANNING, and of your early individual contribution. Further planning evidence for the individual blog could be:

• explanations of your personal contribution to planning
• your own thoughts, reflections and comments on the planning stage and the processes followed
• the roles taken on in the group and the group dynamics

QUESTION: WHAT PLANNING EVIDENCE SHOULD BE ON THE GROUP BLOG?
Once an idea was taken on by the group, and developed further (ie for the pitch), this is GROUP PLANNING, so anything completed from this point onwards goes on the GROUP BLOG. From this point on, work may have beeen completed by individuals on behalf of the group, or by 2/3 people in the group or by all members of the group - it depends how you delegated the relevant jobs. Whichever approach you took, it is still group planning, but how you label these posts will be vital in showing who took responsibility for the different jobs involved.

QUESTION: WHAT PLANNING EVIDENCE SHOULD A LEVEL 4 GROUP BLOG CONTAIN?

For level 4, we are are looking for a range of evidence that demonstrates:
a) that your group understood the importance of this stage in the film making process
b) that you planned, tested, organised and communicated thoroughly
c) that the planning you did was appropriate and relevant to the sequence you were intending to produce

Your mark will also depend on:
a) how thoughtful your approach to planning was
b) how independent your approach to planning was
c) how creative and sophisticated your planning was

So it is up to you what you include to demonstrate this. The one hard and fast rule that you must include for Level 4 is storyboards. As a guide though, Level 4 group blogs would usually demonstrate evidence of the the following,

• the final film proposal
• the final treatment for the opening sequence
• storyboards
• a script
• a shooting schedule/shot list
• a production schedule
• actor screen tests/ contracts
• notes from meetings and general group communication
• floor plan or top down plan, maps of the area, weather checks
• test footage shots and sequences - lighting and camera tests, location scouts, actors, props, costumes etc 

QUESTION: WHAT IF THINGS CHANGED CONSIDERABLY AS WE MOVED THROUGH THE PROJECT?
All film projects change and develop as they move forward; this is as it should be. Make sure you have included proposals, scripts, storyboards etc that match the final sequence you created, but if you have old/prior versions of any of these, do not remove them, as they demonstrate great evidence of work-in-progress and the process the group went through. Make sure they are labelled as such though, so it is clear that they went through a re-drafting process ie 'script 1st draft', 'script final draft' etc

QUESTION: WHAT IF MY GROUP DIDN'T ACTUALLY PRODUCE SOMETHING ON THE LIST ABOVE?
Then quite simply you wouldn't submit it. Make sure you have updated your proposal, treatment, script and storyboard so they represent the finished sequence, then make a list of everything else you have as planning evidence, and as long as you have a range of evidence that demonstrates that you have planned, tested, organised and communicated, then that is it!

QUESTION: WHAT IF MY GROUP DID SOMETHING THAT IS NOT ON THE LIST ABOVE?
This kind of evidence is especially important as it shows independence and originality of thought. Anything unique to your project should be included if it demonstrates good evidence of the pre-production processes your group followed, and shows how you achieved your goals

QUESTION: WHAT LABELS SHOULD WE USE FOR OUR PLANNING POSTS?
Only 2 types of labels are required. Firstly all posts that are being submitted as planning evidence must be labelled as 'PLANNING'. Secondly, they should also be labelled by the name of the contributor(s), using the individual names of anyone involved in that activity. If the whole group was involved, all the individual names should appear.