G324 - Research and Planning - What should be on your blog...

The following is a checklist of the documentation that is expected to be posted on your blogs:

RESEARCH and PLANNING

Research into existing media texts which relate to your chosen brief. You should be able to identify the key media conventions in a selection of texts in order to inform your own production work and subsequently, to evaluate it in the light of your research. Don't just post samples of short film/videos onto your blogs without in-depth textual analysis. You also need to be using SUBJECT SPECIFIC vocabulary.

You might want to include an analysis of institutional practices - by this I mean demonstrating an awareness of how the production of your chosen brief happens in the real world. This could include something on the history of, for example, the music video or children's television. But you will also need to reflect on this in your final evaluation in terms of where your own media construction fits in.........how has new technology affected the development of your chosen media? Have you been able to exploit these developments?

For those doing short film you might want to look at the explosion of amateur film-making with the availability of cheaper digital cameras and affordable editing software + the INTERNET = new platform and audience for shorts.

Research into the POTENTIAL AUDIENCE - in order to achieve the highest mark for research and planning you need to get creative and to include a range of audience research. Think Vox-pop. Think interviews, polls etc. Don't forget the email - find a range of relevant industry people to contact. They may answer, they may not. TRY IT! You can conduct one-to-one interviews with your neighbours - see Grace Robertson's interview with her two young neighbours. You can get some friends together and screen a short or show videos. It will make for lively debate if you are prepared to get things going.

You might want to think about new audiences for your media product - how would you attract them?

REMEMBER YOUR RESEARCH NEEDS TO INFORM THE CONSTRUCTION ITSELF. YOUR EVALUATION SHOULD CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF THE RESEARCH/ PLANNING IN CONJUNCTION WITH AUDIENCE FEEDBACK OF THE PRODUCTION.

- Don't forget you need to think about research for the ancillary tasks too. Some of you seem to think the main task is it......

PLANNING

We need to see evidence of effective planning:

How will you show us that you've organised your actors/locations/costumes or props? How can you present this in your blog?

You need evidence of pitches, treatments, lyric analysis, shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding - you can film yourself working, edit the footage and post on your blog - or you can get someone to interview you talking about your planning......this could be included in a commentary on the DVD of the short film or video.

YOUR MARK FOR RESEARCH AND PLANNING WILL, OF COURSE, REFLECT THE EFFORT YOU HAVE PUT IN, THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL, THE DEPTH AND QUALITY OF YOUR RESPONSES, THE WAY IN WHICH YOU USE THE ELECTRONIC FORMAT, BUT ABOVE ALL, YOUR CREATIVITY AND COMMITMENT TO PRODUCING THE BEST WORK OF WHICH YOU ARE CAPABLE.