DO NOT COPY THE EXEMPLARS IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM
The Brief:
Candidates must write an evaluative essay of around 1000 – 1500 words. This critical reflection of their work should be guided by the following compulsory questions:
- How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions? (MV)
- How do your products represent social groups or issues? (DP)
- How do your products engage with the audience? (SMP)
- How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of ‘branding’? (ALL)
This critical reflection must be completed individually, even if candidates had collaborated in the creation of their products.
Template.
Here is a link to a suggested template for your Critical Reflection.
Task: Initial Brainstorm
You have already done a huge amount of research, planning & design as you made you multi media marketing package for the release of an album
As a whole class, complete a round robin and you are going to think about how you would answer these questions using specific products:
- How did you try to brand your star? (All three products).
- How did your research inform your music video and the way it uses or challenge formal & generic conventions?
- How does your digipack represent the star and the issues they are concerned about?
- How does your social media page engage with the audience?
Media Theory & Key Concepts
From now on we are going to be explicitly teaching media theory. Previously we have been teaching this implicitly (without naming specific theory or theorists (except Blumler, Katz & Dyer)) however from now on and in all your exams there is an expectation that you will recognise that Media Studies draws on a range of theorists’ ideas and that you must name them and use some of the terms they used to explain the key concepts in Media Studies, which are:
- Language
- Representation
- Industry
- Audience
This is also true for the Critical Reflection:
Remember all these theorists and more, which you need to learn for your exams, are in a menu at the top of the blog.
Application of Questions to Products
We are aiming for an essay of 1,000 – 1,200 words. You do not have time (300 words max) to elaborate on the details of all your products in each section and so we will be applying specific questions to specific products. See below for details:
