Analysing Past Student Evaluations

Libby-Mae Fotheringham

Question One: In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The group answered Question using a basic black and white PowerPoint, which was the uploaded to their blog using Prezi. It was really boring due to the lack of visual aids and the black and white format was dull and not engaging. The slides were evenly distributed in terms of the text and no slide was to text heavy; thus meaning it didn't overwhelm the reader. However the content of the text occasionally lacked detail. However where their was detail it was good and concise, as they continued to link their ideas back to thriller conventions and their own ideas and opinions. They also compared their own film back to famous thriller films which inspired them. This meant that they had stronger links to the thriller convention themselves through examples and conventions; this is fantastic for the audience as they are able to see the journey from famous thrillers to theirs.

Question Two: How does your media produce represent particular social groups?

For question two they answered it by using a programme called Padlet. Padlet displays text pictures and clips in a technological 'post it' note form. This question already is an improvement from question one as it features more interactive and visual aids to grab the audiences attention. The text is displayed in small paragraphs under sub-categories, making it easier and clearer for the audience to read and understand what they are talking about. Pictures and videos (visual aids) support each paragraph, and they have allowed the group to cover each aspect of the opening in how it represents particular social groups and audiences. They discuss in detail how different characters represent different social groups and why they have done this. They also evaluated which character would represent a stereotype/social group most efficiently and realistically. This was a fantastic response to this question as the group showed they thought in depth about how to best represent the social group and their clear understanding of typical thriller conventions with characters within their thriller.

Question Three: What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

A programme called Prezi was used to answer question three. Prezi is an presentation creator with a more professional looking result. In my opinion, this response to the question was one of their best. This is because throughout the Prezi they answered the question in a comparison format and always referenced examples within their thriller. Their analysis was constantly summing up the pros and cons of their chosen media institutions and other institutions. An example of this is when they talk about the positives and negatives of using big conglomerate companies and why they are using one rather than an independent. The structure of the Prezi itself was displayed in a simple, clear format displaying short and concise paragraphs on each point they want to discuss. This makes it easier for the reader to easier to weigh up and see their choices and opinions. There was not any visual aids (such as logos of companies etc) so the reader might not know what company they are talking about and the successful films they have produced. However, the whole slide was well written, and gave a very informative answer which was very interesting and simple to read.

Question Four: Who would be the audience for your media product?

For some reason question four would not load, and I could only see the images and certain graphics they included within their presentation. This meant I wasn't able to analyse any of the written context. However, I can briefly talk about the programme they used for this question. The programme was called Glogster, and is very similar to the Padlet programmes as it publishes the information in a post it note form, making it easy to read and interesting to see visually making it more exciting and enjoyable for the reader.

Question Five: How did you attract/address your audience?

The group were let down by question five as it was their most simple formatted answer. It was a plain and boring white on black blog post, with no visual aids. The group never once referred back to the actual evaluation question. To the reader, this looks careless by making it a real struggle to understand what they were talking about. The simple format desperately lacked pictures and interactive aspects it needed and meant that the whole answer was boring to read and look at. The visual aids would have allowed the reader to understand fully what their characters would look like and how they are aimed at their specific target audience. The context of the question was okay, however it could have been more detailed. There were always subtle reasoning behind why the chose certain things to attract their target audience but never anything significant. More specific details/examples of thriller conventions could have been used to link back to their own thriller film and why they have chosen to use certain characters, plots and soundtrack to either support or challenge a stereotype within a thriller film and how they aimed this at their specific target audience to attract them.

Question Six: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6 was the question which focused heavily on technology. The group responded to this question by using a video blog which was an effective idea as it clearly showed their skills and understanding of each technology they have used through visual aids with voice overs. The voice over was clear at times, however sometimes it was mumbled and the talker appeared to stumble across his works, making the whole video appear less professional. The way he compared iMovie and Final Cut Express was detailed and showed clear understand of each technology He presented this information by overlaying key words to describe both what was on the screen with the programme as the background. There was also a detailed list stating all of the programmes he had used, and briefly evaluated the pros and cons of them. However, he could improve this presentation by adding screen grabs and videos of their actual work using the programmes they used in order to prove the use of how and when they used these techniques within their thriller research and film itself. Also, they could have discussed and evaluated the impact these technologies are having on the media world, and how it is changing how new films are being produced, marketed and distributed to suit specific audiences and how its so easy to get your work out there through use of YouTube and social media etc.

Question Seven: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the main task?

Question 7 no longer exists and I was unable to analyse it.