Visiting speaker: Debbie Klein at GHS Friday morning!

This is a reminder that all Media students who are free must attend the Speakers for Schools talk by Debbie Klein on Friday 7 October at 9.25am.

This is a brilliant opportunity to hear from the CEO of Engine, a media company that covers digital communications, advertising, direct marketing, data, public relations, brand consultancy and sponsorship.

The talk will involve showcasing some of Engine's marketing campaigns and talk through the advertising process from receiving the brief from the client to developing and launching a campaign. They have produced campaigns for a wide range of companies and organisations including Sky, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Warburtons, Unilever, Toshiba, Lexus and The Royal Navy.

Make sure you prepare a question to ask Debbie Klein in the Q&A that will follow the talk. This may involve the skills required to work in the media industry but also think about the your key media issues and debates this year: How has new/digital media affected the advertising industry? Is social media the game-changer that some people believe it to be? How much harder is it to reach audiences in the digital age?

Mr Bush will be at the talk and taking a register so make sure you are there on time. The details:

Debbie Klein - Speakers for Schools visit to Greenford High School
Friday 7 October
Time: 9.25am
Lecture Theatre

Enjoy the talk!

Mr Halsey cover work: Monday 3 October

I'm sorry I can't be in school for my 12D lesson P6 - I'm at an A Level Media conference.

The work is exactly as we discussed on Friday: the Film Language blog tasks on Sound.

You've got all week (including some time in Friday's lesson) to work on this but there IS a lot of work so stay focused and you'll get through it steadily.

Any questions, Mr Qureshi is available or catch me later in the week.

Good luck!

Film Language: Sound videos and homework

This is always a great lesson - seeing your parallel and contrapuntal sound presentations. 

When they are done, you'll need to complete the following tasks on your blog:

Video feedback/learner response

• Make sure your video is on YouTube and embedded on your blog. 
• Type up your feedback and then reflect on your work. Add three WWWs and three EBIs underneath the feedback I've given you.
• Learner response: compare your video against your evaluation of the top three videos in the class. Who did you think was best and why? How could you have improved your own video?

Sound tasks

1) Complete the learner response tasks above in a separate blog post called 'Sound video learner response'.

2) Watch any of the sound clips in the Film Language booklet that we didn't get to in class and write answers to the questions to go with each clip on your blog. E.g. A Clockwork Orange, Once Upon A Time In The West, Once Upon A Time In America. The clips are all available on the Media Shared drive M: > Resources > A Level > Film Language.

3) Find a film clip on YouTube that uses sound in an interesting way. Analyse the use of sound, making sure you use the key language we have learned about sound in film:

• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound
• Parallel and contrapuntal sound
• Sound bridges

Remember to discuss/analyse all the different types of sound present in the clip:

• Music
• Dialogue
• Voiceover
• Sound effects

You also need to highlight or put in bold any use of media language.

Complete for homework - due date confirmed by your Film Language teacher.

Film Language: Sound

Our next aspect of film language is crucial: Sound.

A reminder of our notes on Sound:

Sound is incredibly important to our understanding of a film.  The music, dialogue and sound effects (SFX) all contribute to the way we appreciate what we are watching on the screen.    

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound

Diegetic sound comes from the world of the film we are watching.  This could include dialogue by characters in the scene or music or other sound that comes from a source we would naturally expect that sound to come from, e.g. a radio or TV.

Non-diegetic sound is added during post production, e.g. voice over or music sound track.

Parallel and contrapuntal sound

Parallel sound is music we would normally expect to hear accompanying a scene, e.g. soft romantic music might be played over a love scene.

Contrapuntal sound is music that we don’t normally associate with the scene we are watching, e.g. classical music played over a bloody fight scene.

Sound bridge

Sometimes you will notice that sound from a scene continues even though the visual image has moved to the next scene. Alternatively, the sound of the following scene may begin before the image changes. This is a called a sound bridge and helps create a smooth transition from one scene to the next.

Homework: parallel and contrapuntal sound video

1) Choose a 60 second piece of music. 

2) Using editing software (Windows Moviemaker is fine but Adobe Premiere is available on Media PCs) produce a one-minute film of images and video - one set of images that appears parallel to the music and one that is contrapuntal.

3) Upload the video to YouTube and embed it in your blog with a brief description of what you've created.

4) Present your video to the class next lesson, explaining the thinking behind your work.

Film Language: Lighting

Our next aspect of film language is Lighting.

You'll need to use the Film Language Powerpoint to work through the Lighting tasks. These are:

Look at the still images on slides 19-23. Copy the images into your blog and answer the questions for each:

1. Identify examples of high and low-key lighting.
2. Say which depict top, back or under lighting.
3. What effects are created by the lighting in each image?     

When these are complete, you need to do the following on a separate blog post:

1. Research film noir - focusing on the genre’s distinctive lighting style. Find a YouTube clip that fits the film noir genre and embed it alongside your research.

Anything you don't complete in the lesson will be homework, due next week.

12C cover work: Thursday 22 September

Apologies 12C: I'm at an AQA Media briefing that I can't get out of.

Your cover work is very simple: work through this Media consumption audit on the blog.

The most important aspect is reflecting on your media consumption and thinking about how you can develop this over the next year. If you don't engage with the media in ways beyond your normal consumption then you simply won't reach the highest grades in Media.

Anything you don't finish is homework for next lesson.

Good luck!

Mr Halsey

Introduction to Media: Media consumption audit

Create a blogpost on your MEST1 Exam Blog outlining your consumption of the media.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

Newspapers

• Which daily newspapers (if any) do you read?
• What sections of newspapers do you turn to first, and why?
• What sections do you never read, and why?
• What kinds of stories do you usually read and why?
• Do you, or someone else, buy the newspaper you read?
• Do you look at the online versions of any newspapers? Which newspapers? Why do you visit their website and not others?

Magazines

• What magazines (if any) do you buy regularly?  Why
• What sections of the magazines do you read and not read, and why?

Television

• Approximately how many hours a week do you spend watching television?
• What times of day do you usually watch television?
• What programmes do you like best and why?
• Do you watch alone or with others? If you watch with others, who decides what you will watch?
• Do you watch 'live' TV or on-demand/catch-up? Do you use any other devices to watch TV (such as laptop of tablet?)

Radio

• Do you listen to the radio?
• If yes, what stations do you like best and why?
• Approximately how many hours a week do you spend listening to the radio?
• What times of the day do you usually listen to the radio?
• Where do you listen to the radio?
• What other activities (if any) do you do whilst listening to the radio?

Cinema

• What films have you seen in the cinema in the last month?
• What films have you seen in other places – for example, through rental, satellite film channels (free or otherwise) or through video-on-demand?
• Who else watched the films with you?
• Who decided what films to watch?
• What devices do you typically use to watch films: TV, laptop, tablet, phone etc.?

Online

• How often do you access the internet?
• Where do you access the internet?  At home, at college or school, or at work?
• What are the main sites that you access?
• What are the main reasons for accessing these sites – for example, for information, to make purchases, communicate with friends or for entertainment?
• What other activities (if any) do you do whilst accessing the internet?
• What different devices do you use to access the internet? What is your primary device for accessing the internet?
• What social networks do you use regularly (e.g. Twitter, Instagram)? Why do you belong to these networks in particular?

Reflection

• How can you develop the amount and variety of media you consume?
• What will you change in your media consumption habits this year as a result of studying A Level Media?
• List three sources of media (websites/newspapers/apps/TV programmes etc.) that you will start to access this year that you haven't engaged with previously.

Due: next lesson