1. A2 Media Studies Exam – it’s closer than you think AKA Why it’s important to blog effectively.

2. Let me tell you a story… Once upon a time there was a group of Media Studies students at a school called Welling. They were rather lazy and in particular, they HATED the writing monster. They also didn’t really like the blogging monster and they particularly didn’t like the evil RESEARCH AND PLANNING monster. So they stayed away from these monsters in Year 12, hiding behind their excuses and because they made quite nice title sequences and they knew all about TV drama and media industry they did alright in their AS and thought ‘Happy Days’! All was well and in Year 13 they followed the same pattern, as it had worked so well for them before, ignoring the guidance of the oh-so-clever teachers. They made lovely music videos and got quite good grades for those and although by now they were losing out a bit on the other marks they thought, ‘Never mind, we’ll do well in the exam’… But then, when it was too late to go back and slay the Writing, Blogging and Research and Planning monsters once and for all, DISASTER struck…

3. They had to write about these things in their A2 exam! Oh how they wailed and cried when they realised how EASY this exam could be, if only they’d been preparing for it all along! But now there was nothing they could do but go back and raid their memory banks (which were almost empty by now) and try to fool the demon examiner into thinking they were heroes when in fact, they were cowards. The moral of the story? Don’t let the monsters get you!

4. Critical Perspectives in Media Exam (Question 1 of 2) 1a asks about the whole of your practical work: Preliminary task at AS. Main task at AS. Main task at A2. Ancillary tasks at A2. Work completed outside the course. The question is all about skills and development and will focus on one or two of: Digital Technology Creativity Research and Planning Post-production Using conventions from real media texts. 1b asks about only one of your projects (again could be something completed outside the course). It will ask you about any one of the key concepts: Genre Narrative Representation Audience Media Language

5. Blogging for Success Complete ALL the blogging Research and Planning tasks that you are set. We are not being mean but ensuring that you complete the project in a way which will enable you to write about your process effectively in the exam, as well as in a way which reflects REAL MEDIA INDUSTRY PRACTICE. Keep your blog organised. Ensure that you label EVERY post as this will make it much easier when you come to prepare for the exam, as well as when you write your evaluation. NEW THIS YEAR!!! You are going to keep a ‘Production Journal’ (all journal posts should be labelled thus) which will specifically address what you need to write about for question 1a. It should be a reflective, analytical journal which you will be expected to complete for homework each week (if not more than once a week) outlining what you have been doing, decisions you have made, how you feel you and the project are progressing. Try to write in relation to (and you may want to highlight these things for ease of reference later on): Creativity, Digital Technology, Research and Planning, Post Production, Using Conventions from real media texts., Genre, Narrative, Representation, Media Languages and Audience.

6. Getting Started Set up a new blog for ‘A2 Music Video Coursework’ and make a beautiful banner. Apparently blogger has some fancy new toys! Write your first journal post, reflecting on what you achieved at AS (try using the key areas) and how you hope to develop as the A2 course progresses. You will be completing Research tasks with me for the remainder of this term, and you will be doing Practical practice work with Ms Raji (AKA ‘fun stuff’!). Journal all of it but keep your entries media-related, academic and not just ‘Today I had a really nice time helping the year 8s choreograph their dance but they wouldn’t stop arguing! Year 8s are so weird!’