THE PROJECT BRIEF + MARKING CRITERIA

The unit requires you to engage with contemporary media technologies, giving you the opportunity to develop in these technologies. It also enables you to develop the skills of presentation that are required for further study at higher levels and in the workplace.

Candidates will produce:

• a media portfolio, comprising a main and ancillary texts
• a presentation of their research, planning and evaluation in electronic format

Your production brief is as follows

Brief 1: A promotion package of the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with 2 of the following 3 options:

• a website homepage for the band
• a cover for its release on cd
• a magazine advert for the cd

Note: Original imagery, (including publicity stills for the ancillary products) must be included on all products. You are expected to shoot stills specifically for use on your print materials rather than merely relying on extracts from your MV footage. Found imagery is possible but there is a limit on what can be used and how – this can be discussed with the teachers on an individual basis.

Assessment: to achieve Level 4 (16 - 20 marks) in Research and Planning, you must demonstrate

• excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience
• excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes and props
• excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding
• excellent time management
• excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and plannning
• excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation
• excellent communication skills

Assessment: To achieve Level 4 in production (50 - 60 marks*) you are expected to demontrate excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• holding a shot steady, where appropriate
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements where appropriate
• using a variety of shot distances, where appropriate
• shooting material appropriate to the task set
• selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
• using varied shot transitions, captions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task

Where a candidate has worked in a group, an excellent contribution to construction is evident. Differences in the contributions made by individual candidates must be clearly indicated on the teacher marksheets. When marking the production, teachers must focus on the quality of the brand identity across the promotion package as a whole, as well as on the indidvidual productions.

*The main task will be marked out of 40 (level 4 = 32-40 marks), and the two ancillary tasks will be marked out of 10 each (level 4 = 9-10 marks).

Evaluation: each candidate will evaluate and reflect on the creative process and their experience of it. The following questions must be addressed in the evaluation:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Assessment: To achieve Level 4 in your evaluation (16 - 20 marks) you must demonstrate

• excellent understanding of the forms and conventions used in the productions
• excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production
• excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts
• excellent understanding of the role of audience feedback
• excellent ability to communicate
• excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation