Accounts

Outgoings

500 copies from the Newspaperclub is a total of £500, inc VAT. The postage for the first three orders is £11.40, which makes the grand total of £511.40

Income

advert Junction £350
advert Lincoln £100
advert OCR £100

Reigate 120 copies £60
Islington 40 copies £20
Netherhall 30 copies £15
Guernsey Gramma 20 copies £10

Total = £655

This means we have made a profit of £145. This adds to the success of the project that we have been able to make a profit .

Feedback On The Newspaper

We have recieved feedback on the newspaper that we have created. The feedback is as follows:

“We've just put the underground
map on the wall and are fighting about who is on the coolest line
(that's teachers not students by the way!)
Initial reaction is that we can't wait to use it in the classroom -
could be a few more bigger images in there...
We'll use it with students next week (weds) and email you some more
feedback”

Mary Berrisford, Islington

“MediaMe looks great. Works really well with the colour, etc. Mega
achievement.”

Jenny Grahame - Editor of Media Magazine

Judging from this feedback, the newspaper has been a success. Members of the public have liked what we have done and this makes the work seem a lot more worthwhile.

Finished Newspaper

This is the finished video of what the newspaper looks like. It looks pretty good.

Job Roles Video

This is a video explaining and showing our different job roles for this project.

A2 Exam Tips

Here is a copy of the exam tips that I wrote which appeared on every page in the newspaper.

1) Revise with visuals and mindmaps, not just words on a page.
2) Use the weblinks in this paper to help you prepare.
3) Bring more than one pen to the exam.
4) Check in advance whether it is am or pm exam.
5) Read the questions and make sure you understand them.
6) Plan out your answer for five minutes before you start.
7) Spread your time wisely: 30 mins for each 25 mark question, 60 mins for the 50 marker.
8) Back everything up with examples.
9) Use media terminology accurately throughout.
10) Maybe do the 50 mark question first.

Extended Project Evaluation

1) How well does the newspaper meet your original intentions?

I think that the finished newspaper meets our original intentions because we actually produced a finished newspaper that looked and had the feel of a newspaper. We met the final deadline which was the 1st April so in that sense, the newspaper was also a success. We kept in regular contact with our client who gave us feedback on all stages of this project. From drafting the ideas for each of the articles to actually writing the articles and then choosing the articles which would be more suitable to appear in the newspaper than the less relevant articles.

2) How does it look?

The front page looks eye-catching with bright colours. The text size is of a reasonable size which makes it easy to read. You do not have to squint when reading it. The layout of each of the articles is of a consistent which adds to the strength of the newspaper. There is a good use of images throughout the newspaper and the use of the opies to identify the authors of the articles. The paragraph sizing is average. They are not too long which is good because it makes them easier to read. The tube map pull out is also another highlight of the newspaper, along with the adverts for the newspaper's sponsers.

They fit in well with the newspaper even though when deciding whereabouts the adverts were going to go, there was a lot of mixed feelings towards that in the class. The main downside of the newspaper is the media wordsearch on the activities page. The word search looks stretched and the text alongside it looks faded. This made it more difficult to read and therefore made the newspaper look less professional.

3) How pleased are you with your contributions?

Overall, I am pleased with the contributions that I made to the making of the newspaper. I was part of the quality control team and my main job was to read through everyone's blogs and make sure all of their work had been put on the blogs. If any work was missing from the blogs, I had to tell them what was missing and make sure that the work was added to the blog. I felt that the feedback I gave on the blogs were fair and did not show any favoritism to any members of the class. Some blogs were easier to give feedback on. Others, had a lot to add to their blogs and hence took a lot longer to give feedback on.

I also created the house style guide for each of the groups and also worked on drafting an article on how to answer question 1 a and question 1 b in the exam, along with giving feedback on the majority of the classes articles at various times. I also helped to take some photos of each of the members of the class working so that they can put them on their evidence to show that they had been working on the set tasks. I felt I worked well considering I had a number of tasks to complete, all within a close time of each other.

4) How effectively do you think you worked in your role and others worked in
theirs?

Essentially, everyone worked well in their roles. Everyone's job roles were clearly explained to them, so that meant they were able to stick to what they were meant to be doing instead of starting something another member of the class was already working on. There was a lack of communication between people at certain times, such as when there were two members of the class working on a logo for the newspaper, not knowing that someone else was already working on it. All these problems were swiftly resolved.

Although everyone worked well together, there were times when people were too busy and not actually doing much work. This was the case when the deadline was set for the first draft article of the newspaper. Only half the class met this deadline and so I gave feedback on them in the lesson, so that they could make their improvements over the weekend for the next deadline. Other articles were given to me at different times the following week, some were never given to me, so I was unable to give feedback on them.

I felt I worked well, but there was a few areas I could improve on. I gave everyone feedback on their blogs twice and it should've been more often. But due to me taking on several other tasks, I was unable to check the blogs as often as I would've liked to. And it turned out the people kept asking for more feedback on their blogs were the people who's blogs had the most work on. I also felt I had to tell a few people how to find their feedback, even though I messaged them frequently on facebook with a link to the blogs. I also told them all in person so that they knew.

When I was asked to write the article on how to answer the first part of the exam, I felt rushed because I was frequently asked when I would have it finished, even though I was still catching up with all the work after my operation. Overall, I think my attitude in lessons were good, although when I got home, I often felt my dedication to blog what happened in the lessons, soon wavered which it shouldn't have done.

5) What could be learned from this experience? what had been learnt from previous experience?

The main thing I have learnt from working on this project is not to take on more job roles than what was originally assigned to me. I soon discovered that this was a bad move and fell behind on all aspects because I was trying to work on something else. So, next time, I will only work on one thing. The other thing that I have learnt from other projects is to stick to what I am doing and not help with something else because in previous projects that led to tension between us.

Also, I have also learnt that making and writing for newspapers is not what I am good at. I think this project was a good idea due to the fact that most of our other projects have often involved making a video whereas this one was more of a written one.

Action Plan 1

Here is the action plan that I created for the first week of the project. 

Feedback On My Draft Article

Here is a screengrab of the feedback that Philippa gave me upon reading the first draft of my article. Here is the feedback that I received. 

Breaking down your article in to sections really helps the reader to understand
- You used the thriller opening sequence as the same example twice - it may be useful to use a different example so that they can see a different angle 
- I also noticed you hadn't really written the section or Contemporary Media Issues - i assume that the draft is of half the article? I would advise you to structure this section in the same way you did the last and using a range of examples and angles that could use

-other than those points, I don't see any other way you could improve until you re-draft.

I feel this is pretty good feedback. I will now need to redraft my article. 

Feedback On Philippa's Draft Article

Here are screengrabs of the feedback that I gave to Philippa on the first draft of her article.

House Style Guide Revised

This is a revised version of the house style guide that I worked on. 

We have created a list of tips that you should keep in mind while you write your articles. 

1) You should leave one space after a full stop. For example, ‘Home time. I’

You should leave a line at the end of each paragraph, this allows the reader to absorb more.

Reference each of the images you use in the captions. For example, an image of a student taking an exam.

Film Titles, Music and Games should be put in Italics. For example, Harry Brown.

Numbers should not be put in word form. For example, 10,000.

Single inverted commas should be used at the start and at the end of the quotes. ‘This is a quote’

No casual swearing is allowed in the articles, eg: bollocks, crap, dick, shit.

Dates should be written with the number first: for example, 25th March 2010.

The title of the article should be in bold and a larger font size than the text in the main body of the article. The first letter of each word should be in capitals. For example, This Is My Article

The sub-headings should be in bold and the next font size up than the text in the main body of the article. For example, This is what I should be explaining

Proof read your articles constantly. Check for spelling mistakes, however simple: such as effect/affect.

Punctuation should be correct. Commas and apostrophes need to be correct. For example, it’s, its, its’.

Check the top and bottom of your columns to make sure none of the text drops off the end of the page.

14) Use UK spell check

House Style Guide

Here is  a copy of the house style guide that I created  during the lesson. 

We have created a list of tips that you should keep in mind while you write your articles.

1) You should leave one space after a full stop. For example, ‘Home time. I’

You should leave a line at the end of each paragraph, this allows the reader to absorb more.

Reference each of the images you use in the captions. For example, an image of a student taking an exam.

Film Titles, Music and Games should be put in Italics. For example, Harry Brown.

Numbers should not be put in word form. For example, 10,000.

Single inverted commas should be used at the start and at the end of the quotes. ‘This is a quote’

No casual swearing is allowed in the articles, eg: bolllocks, crap, dick, shit.

Dates should be written with the number first: for example, 25th March 2010.

The title of the article should be in bold and a larger font size than the text in the main body of the article. The first letter of each word should be in capitals. For example, This Is My Article

The sub-headings should be in bold and the next font size up than the text in the main body of the article. For example, This is what I should be explaining

Finding The Missing Blogs

I went around the class and gathered the links to their blogs. Some members of the class were not present at the time, so I sent them a message through facebook in order to get the links to their blogs. This is a copy of the message that I sent to them.

First Questions

Upon being given the brief for this project, Philippa and I came up with a list of questions that we had regarding the project. The answers have been included. They are as folllows:

1) Are we going to be supplied with the information to include for the different categories? No - we have to do the research.

2) How much of a budget do we have? We do not have one, we have to raise the money ourselves. Five hundred colour copies of our newspaper will cost £500 to produce

3) How will we meet the clients? We will have one member of the class who will have to meet the client.

4) Will we have the chance to interview people to see what they want to appear in the newspaper? - Yes

5) When is our final deadline? The newspaper has to be sent to the printers by 1st April 2010.

We better get started then...

Article Draft 1

This is the first draft of my article for the newspaper.

Taking any exam can be a stressful experience. This article will give you an idea of what the exam is about and how you might go about answering it. The exam is split into two sections. The first half being Theoretical Evaluation of Production. The second half is Contemporary Media Issues. Each section is worth fifty marks, with the total number of one hundred marks being available to you in the exam.

The exam lasts two hours, so it is advised you spend at least one hour on each section. If you overrun in the first hour, you must start the second section. If you finish that early, go back to your first question and finish it off. It has been known to happen that you spend the entirety of your time working on just the one section and have no time for the second section. This means that the number of marks you can get is fifty, only half the number of marks available to you.

Theoretical Evaluation of Production

For the first part of the exam, you will need to write about a project you have worked on. This could be about your thriller opening sequence, short film, music magazine, your A2 music video, film trailer or just a project you may have worked on in the past. Remember, it needs to be something you can write about at length, so it’s not a wise idea to write about a happy slapping video you made back when you were twelve.

There are a range of different topics that could come up in the exam. They are as follows:

1) Digital Technology -
2) Creativity -
3) Research and planning - The original concept and the ideas you come up with.
4) Post-production - From the edit to the final cut of your work.
5) Using conventions from real media texts -

The exam question used in the January 2010 paper, is as follows:
‘Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.’ The total number of marks available to you in this question are twenty-five, a quarter of the final marks.

For this question, you will need to write about a number of things. I am doing this in relation to the thriller opening sequence. Firstly:

1) Your original idea – what was it?
2) Thriller Opening Sequences – Did you analayse different thriller opening sequences? What were their typical conventions?
3) Different sources of inspiration – what films, TV programmes, books or games did you look at that inspired you? What ideas did they give you?
4) How your idea developed from this – did it stay the same or did you change it after this?
5) How did you plan the project? – from choosing the correct theme, location, storyboarding, risk assessment
6) You’ll need an overall conclusion linking all these different elements together – how do you think your skills progressed over time?

For the second part of the question, there will be a question regarding your piece of work. They could be part of the following topics:

1) Genre
2) Narrative - The story pushing your work forward
3) Representation
4) Audience
5) Media language

The question that came up in the January exam paper is as follows: ‘Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions.’ Again, I will use the thriller opening sequence as a starting point on answering this question.

What are the gender representations in your work? Are the characters entirely male or female? In which way are these characters portrayed as week or strong? Also, what are the social representations in your work? Are the characters Scene, Emo or Chav? How do they fit in with today’s society? Are they stereotypical with any clear characteristics or motives? Those are the sort of things you need to think about.

Contemporary Media Issues

By the time you reach this section in the exam, you will be halfway through it.

How To Ensure That Our Articles Fit The Exam Criteria

As a class, we looked at how we should make our articles fit into the exam criteria. These are the ideas that we came up with.

- Refer to the exam criteria
- Use facts and figures
- Supply references - Where are our sources?
- Use an appropriate mode of address
- Relate each paragraph to the topic
- Target specific exam sections or show how you can mix or match
- Information alone is not enough - how does it relate to the topic?

My article is about how to tackle the exam, so I have to make sure I make good use of these points.

Essay Article Plan

This is the plan for my article.

Introduction - Giving a brief explanation as to what the paper is about, the total marks available and also the exam run time.

Part 1 - Theoretical Evaluation of Production

What the topics are, an example of a mock exam question and how to answer it.

Part 2 - Contemporary Media Issues

A brief overview of the different topics, a mock exam question and also how they would go about answering it.

Conclusion

Overall tips on how to perform well in the exam, revision strategies and also good luck wishes =D.

Action Plan - 22/03/10

This is my Action Plan for the week.

Monday 22nd March 2010 - We have to create questions in order for the rest of the class to ask members of the Year 12 Level 3 group to answer. I also have to go on a photoshoot to get the photos that are relevant for my newspaper article. I will also be creating a model release form for my photoshoot.

Tuesday 23rd March 2010 - The group shall be asking the Level 3 group the questions that we created. I will be having my operation and therefore will be unable to attend the day at College.

Wednesday 24th March 2010 - I shall be finishing off my newspaper article and emailing it to members of the class to be given feedback ready for me to make all the changes that I need to make.

Thursday 25th March 2010 - I shall be going through all the blogs for each member of the class and give them feedback on what they can do to make their blog better and also add the information that isn't on there at that time.

Friday 26th March 2010 - I shall complete my final draft of my article, including images, ready for the newspaper to be printed out the following week.

Interview Questions

I worked with Tara, Kirk & Alex to create a set of questions that could be used in order for the rest of the class to ask the Level 3 group in tomorrow's lesson.


1) What social sites are you currently using? What social websites did you used to be on and why did you change?

2) Do you use the internet to watch TV programmes as opposed to physically watching it on TV? for example: BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc. If so, what sites do you use and what do you watch? Where do you watch these? For example, at home or travelling.

3) Have you ever produced a video and what sites have you published it on? Do you see youtube as being primarily for distribution or viewing / entertainment purposes?

4) In what format do you view the news? For example, internet and/or newspaper? Do you physically buy and read a newspaper, read it online or watch it on TV? What newspaper do you read, if any?

5) What music sites do you use? For example, spotify, youtube, iTunes. Do you legally or illegally download your music and why?

6) Are you currently using any of the following sites to upload your own material? Deviant Art, Myspace, Youtube, Flickr. What are your reasons for using these?

Ash Feedback 1

This is a screengrab of the blog post that I made giving Ash feedback on his blog so far. 

Tara Feedback 1

This is the screengrab of the blog of feedback I gave for Tara. 

Alex Feedback 1

This is a screengrab of the blog post I made giving Tim feedback on his blog so far. 

Tim Feedback 1

Here is a screenshot of the feedback I gave to Tim after looking through his blog. 

Matt L Feedback 1

Here is a screengrab of the feedback I gave matt L on the blog that i set up. There is not much he needs to do to improve his blog, so its all good. 

Loz Feedback 1

This is a screengrab of the feedback I posted to Loz in the blog that I set up. There were some improvements for him to make, but as long as he does this, his blog will be up to date with all the work. 

Alie Feedback 1

Here is a copy of the blog post I made on the main blog giving alie feedback on her blog so far. There was only one improvement that she could make to make it better. Other than that, she was doing so good. 

Setting Up A Blog

I set up a blog so that everyone can see the feedback that I give them on their blogs, and they can also access everyone's blogs and also emailed Pete and Nick so that they can gain access to our profiles without struggling to find them. I also messaged all the members of the class on facebook with the blog links. I got in contact with them through facebook as they are more likely to check their facebook than their emails. This is their easiest point of call.

Job Roles

The Liason is in charge of getting in contact with the client, Jenny Grahame and also Julian McDougal. The Quality Control team are in charge of making sure that all of the deadlines are met within the groups, that their blogs are also maintained well and all evidence is provided. The production teams are in charge of sorting out the content to what goes into the newspaper. This is all pretty interesting stuff

Final Job Roles

These are the job roles that people are taking on whilst working on this project.

Planning Department

Liason: Alex

Quality Control Team

Evidence: Me/Tara
Relfection: Tara/Me
Schedule: Kirk

Production Teams

Red Team

Team Leader: Loz
Team Members: Dave, Hayden, Matt H

Blue Team

Team Leader: Philippa
Team Members: Joe, Natalie, James

Gold Team

Team Leader: Sam
Team Members: Tim, Matt, Ash

I am happy with the job role that I have been given. It just means that I have to be extrememly organised when I look at everyone's blogs and issue feedback on them, whilst also maintaining my own blog. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

Questionnaire

These are the set of questions devised by members of the class ready for Pete to take down to Rygate for the students their to fill out. I typed the questions up.

Questions

We were given a set of questions that we had to make sure we had to keep in line with this project. They are as follows:

1) Do you know your audience(s)? 

2) Do you know what they want from a study guide? 

3) Do you know how they learn?

4) Do you know what the examiner wants?

5) Do you know what your client wants?

6) How can you ensure you "hit" the expectations of your audience, your client + the examiner?

We then answered the questions as a class. Here are our answers:

1) A2 media students for OCR

2) Motivation, make it important not to be like a revision text book 

3) Mindmaps help me to work - can get in the core information in a short space

4) Not yet - haven't heard back from them. We could use Pete as he is also an examiner.

5) It's a national distribution - it is important as everyone who reads Media Magazine comes from different parts of the country and we must not make any assumptions about their abilities. 

Creating A Question

As Kirk asked the whole class to prepare questions ready for Pete to take to Rygate to get students to fill out. My question is as follows: 

1) Would questions from past papers be of beneficial to you? And a dissection of how to answer it? 

I felt that this is a sensible question to ask as this would make me feel more confident about tackling an exam question if I saw a model answer. 

Philippa Feedback

I went through Philippa's blog and wrote down a list of things she can do to improve her blog. Here is a screengrab of her blog so far and the email that I sent to her. 

Battle Plan For This Afternoon

This afternoon, 2nd March 2010, I need to put my keynote presentation onto my blog

- read through everyone's blogs and give them feedback on what they've done so far - what can be improved and include screengrabs of the emails I have sent out. 

Feedback For James's Blog

This is a screengrab of an email I sent to James regarding his blog so far and how it could be improved. I have also included a screengrab of his blog at this current time.

My Role In The Project

For this project, I am part of the quality control team as the reflective guy. I have to read through everyone's blog and give them feedback as to how they can make improvements on their work. Job done.

This is also while I maintain my own blog...

The Brief and The Client

The Brief

You will produce a 12 page, full-colour, tabloid size newspaper consisting of study materials to help OCR media studies students answer the A2 critical perspectives exam.

In small groups you will need to research, plan and produce your own case studies, learning plans and lesson activities for use by students and teachers in post-16 education (school,s sixth form and FE Colleges) You must also find advertisers to help cover your costs of production.

You should make the paper visually interesting, intellectually engaging, exam specific and up to date: think of games, investigations and simulations, comic strips, timelines, infographics, interviews and analysis of your own primary research with real audiences and media users/producers.

The Client

Your client is Jenny Grahame at the english and media centre who will distribute the paper via their website (if it meets their requirements) you will also seek advice and information from julian mcdougall, principal examiner for A2 ocr media studies.

You will work in four teams; three teams producing content (four pages each) and one quality control team overseeing the others. You will each have a specific role and keep a journal of your individual progress as well as maintaining a group blog to keep the rest of the teams and your client up to date.

The ideas and strategies you devise must be suited to the learning styles of 16-19 year olds and you will test, tweak and revise your materials by trying them out on students in other classes and colleges before your newspaper goes to print.

Sounds interesting...

Choosing Roles

These are the people who I think would be good for each of the roles:

Liason - Tara

Evidence - Matt L

Schedules - Kirk

Reflection - Me

Red Leader - James

Red Team - Sam, Joe, Matt H

Blue Leader - Philippa

Blue Team - Tim, Alie, Ash

Gold Leader - Alex

Gold Team - Hayden, Loz and Dave

Extended Project

This is my blog for my extended project. As of now, this seems quite a tough project. Bye