Media Studies

1. Year 13 – to do…

2. • Evaluate at least THREE (that’s THREE, Hannah)
similar products – for the main task and the
ancillary tasks
• Produce a PITCH for your production – if you
can, emphasise a unique selling point (USP) and
you must talk about your target audience
• Produce a questionnaire to help you
understand the needs of your target
• Present the findings of the questionnaire in bar
graphs or pie charts or whatever – but
remember to COMMENT on the findings

3. • Produce some initial storyboards and try to
break down difficult scenes carefully – you can
produce up to date storyboards later
• Cast and location work – you can take photos so
this isn’t presented just as text. If you need
permission to film in certain locations, you must
make a note of this on your blog – it all counts
as research
• Music rights. Most, if not all, of you will be using
music from other sources. You need to get in
touch with the publishing company to ask
permission. It’s unlikely they will say no; it’s
more likely they won’t bother to reply – but post
your email/tweet/whatever anyhow…

4. • Flat-plans for ancillary tasks – you are all
capable of getting full marks for these tasks.
You can, of course, make alterations later in
light of any new decisions you make
• You must update your blog on a regular basis
and you must produce a podcast – maybe one
every two weeks. If nothing else, you can recap
what you’ve done.
• Any changes to plans must be blogged – it all
counts as progress

5. Narrative and Character Theories
• You need to show some awareness of both –
there’s a powerpoint on the A Level blog.
• Ask if you’re stuck
• It might be a good idea to apply them to one
of the texts you’ve looked at AS WELL AS
YOUR OWN
• Bear in mind that character types in Propp
may be combined or, at least, not as
straightforward as he implies

6. • Script! Yes, you need a script. Your ideas may
well change, but you need to have a script. If
it’s a music video, then break down the
action in terms of the lyrics
• Anyone working in a pair must have specific
tasks assigned to them. Even if you both
contribute to everything, you will have to
pretend that the tasks were divided out and
you both did something specific in order to
help their marking

7. • When you film – make a call sheet
• See http://www.starboardmedia.co.uk/how-
to-write-call-sheets/
• http://howtofilmschool.com/making-a-call-
sheet/
• There’s an example here, but yours won’t need
to be as detailed:
http://castandcrewcall.com/free-one-page-
professional-call-sheet-template/