Analysis of Year
12 Media Studies
In our first year of Media studies we created many projects
to improve our skills in editing software’s, analyzing themes like
representation and stereotypes, media theorists as well as audiences and
genres. All of this has helped us improve and will allow our work in year 13 to
be better and easier than the last.
College Magazine
Our first big project was to create a magazine advertising
sixth form, we were told to create a Front Cover, Double Page Spread and
Contents Page. We went online and looked at other college magazines; their
layout, how they’re designed, colours and how they attract their audience. We
used this project as practice for a later project (music mag) so we didn’t have
to specify the contents or have any content really. We had to mostly focus on
things like the layout; large masthead or title and text that is positioned
well in the page and doesn’t collide with the images or doesn’t seem out of
place. We were thought the many codes and conventions that go into making a
magazine; Masthead, title, cover lines, central images and graphic features, we
had to include as much as possible to make a detailed magazine that will grab
the reader’s attention. We also practiced editing pictures in Photoshop, we practiced
simple editing tools and how to transform images on a basic level (like making
an image black and white) This was all decent practice in introducing us to the
subject and the software we will be using in the future.
Music Magazine
We created a music magazine
based on our chosen genre, we did this so we could research into the genre and
look at other magazines that are based in that genre, to see what grabs the
audience’s attention and sells the magazine. My genre was a cross between indie
and dark rock since I wanted to include dark and dreary imagery in my magazine.
We went to town and took pictures to use in our magazine, this allowed us to
practice our photography and make use of camera angles and lighting. We edited
our images in Photoshop, in further depth than our college magazine, we learned
different techniques such as how to make threshold images, how to remove marks
and blemishes from the actors’ faces. My front cover was a threshold image in
black and red, this colour scheme interested me as it was dark yet eye
catching. The typography I used suited my magazine, with titles and the
masthead I copied the text then placed it behind the original, in black or
white to make it pop out as if it’s in 3D or has a shadow. I tried to make my
front cover minimalistic when it came to codes and conventions as I wanted to
make the central image the main focus. The contents page and Double Page Spread
featured more codes and conventions and featured the same black and red colour
scheme and typography and used black and white images to keep the dark indie
theme. Overall I was happy with my music magazine since it allowed me to
develop my skills on editing software’s and allowed me to explore my creative
style in my work.
Media City
We went on a trip to the BBC Media City in Solford. In there
we had a look at what it takes to run a large studio and radio company. They showed
us the large studios that were completely empty and we were told how monotonous
the process of building a set was, since the studio was completely empty they
had to build highly detailed sets, for TV shows, the morning they are shot,
then take everything down once shooting has finished since they shoot a lot of
shows in a week using the same studios. Their equipment was top of the line,
one of the cameras, used for shooting talk shows, cost £150,000 which is ridiculous
for just one camera in my opinion. This gave us insight on what it takes to
create a decent studio production as well as shown us how to utilize everything
you have at your facility while filming.
Evaluation
In our evaluation we had to answer seven questions in
different ways. We were allowed to use videos, animations, text, audio… Basically
anything that we could use to make a creative evaluation. The questions were
based on our previous task; the music magazine. I decided to make:
·
Green screen: I got someone to video me,
standing in front of a green screen answering the question, once the video was
finished I uploaded the video and the pictures I want in the green screen to Sony
Vegas. There I was able to edit the images into the green screen and make my
video look like a presentation.
·
Split screen: I videoed myself twice, both
asking and answering the question in different clothes. I timed the videos with
a timer so they would match side by side, then filmed it properly and uploaded both
to Sony Vegas, there I was able to place both videos side by side to make it
look like there were two of me in the video.
·
Animations: I created a stick figure gif in
Revelation Art, then made audio to go over the animation with the recorder
tool, I placed both into Sony Vegas and timed the video to match the audio and
animation together. I also created a lip Sync animation using a cartoon
character, I created three different mouth images to go over the cartoon
character then changed them as the video went on to make it look like its mouth
was moving, I placed my audio over it and my video was complete.
·
Audio: I created an audio file answering one of
my questions, this was mostly to practice my microphone work for my animation
videos as well as answer one question in a unique way, without using visuals.
Exam
For our exam we had to study the film industry: we had to
pick two case studies to use in our exam, I chose Eon and Warp films. I chose
these two because they are both British film companies, EON with a high grossing
franchise (James Bond) and Warp with films like Four Lions which is an indie
film with a cult following. This shows contrast as one clearly giants over the
other and I can use this when I had to talk about stats and figures. We studied
different marketing campaigns as well as how they both get their films to a worldwide
audience using conglomerates and synergy with other companies and industries.
We also studied Television Dramas, more specifically we
looked at representation of ethnic groups such as race, religion, disabilities,
class and gender. We looked at stereotypes and whether characters, in certain
TV dramas, follow or go against stereotype and why the writers decided to do
this, what their meaning was behind the use of the ethnic group. We also looked
at things like editing and camera shots, how they are used to make a scene
denote a meaning or feeling. Like some shots are made to make a character feel
weak/powerful such as using high/low angles to change their size and status.
Overall this first year has given me skills that I can use
for my second year, I can use my work as well as my mistakes to create better
work in the year to come.
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