Essay Guide for Q1a

Q1a ESSAY GUIDE FOR: "Describe and evaluate how your skills have developed over time in terms of using conventions from real media texts."

(25 marks)

Refer to Pete Fraser's blog for guidance on answering Q1a

http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/approaching-question-1a.html

SHORT INTRO FOLLOWED BY

·       AS What did I watch

·       AS The technique (camerawork, editing, mise-en-scence…)

·       AS How I used the convention in my own production

·       AS what was good / bad about it? (focus on the bad!!)

·       A2 What did I watch

·       A2 The technique (camerawork, editing, mise-en-scence…)

·       A2 How I used the convention in my own production. SPECIFIC EXAMPLES

·       EVALUATE: My skills have improved by A2 because….

At AS I produced a 2 minute opening to a film from the psychological thriller genre, whereas at A2 I produced a music video from the alternative genre. 

At AS I watched ‘The Blair Witch Project’ film and liked the handheld effect of the camera work because it shows the protagonist’s point of view which makes the audience feel a sense of immediacy; they are involved in the narrative and feel empathy with the characters.  I used this convention in my film when I shot a high angle shot of the duvet cover pulling back by itself which was effective because we made the audience feel like they were watching a point-of-view shot of our aparition, creating atmospheric suspense, a convention of the psychological thriller narrative.  Likewise, at A2 I watched ‘Skirts’ by ‘The Other Tribe’ in which I saw lots of tracking shots.  I wanted to make our audience feel the tension and anticipation created by this camerawork, so therefore I also used tracking shots when our artist is skipping through the fields and… This made our audience feel… My skills have improved by A2 because..