post production example booklet

EXAM RESOURCE

Section A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production In Question 1(a) you need to write about your work for the Foundation Portfolio and Advanced Portfolio units and you may refer to other media production work you have undertaken. Digital Technology Examples June 2012 Describe a range of creative decisions that you made in post-‐production and how these decisions made a different to the final outcomes. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time. June 2014 Describe the most important post-‐production decisions you made for your different media productions and explain why these decisions were significant. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how your skills in post-‐production developed over time.

G325 Mark Scheme June 2012

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Section A Question Answer Marks Content

1 (a) Level 4 (21-25 marks) There is a clear sense of progression and of how examples have been selected, and a range of articulate reflections on post-production. There is a fluent evaluation of progress made over time. Candidates offer a broad range of specific, relevant and clear examples of post-production in relation to outcomes. The use of media terminology and post-production terms is excellent. Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a style of writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences and paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar. Level 3 (16-20 marks) There is some sense of progression and of how examples have been selected, and some useful descriptions of post-production activities. Progress made is described and evaluated with clarity. Candidates offer a mostly clear, mostly relevant and reasonable range of examples of post-production in relation to outcomes. The answer makes proficient use of media terminology throughout, with post-production terms handled very well. Relatively straightforward ideas have been expressed with some clarity and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and

25 Candidates will need to refer to their work for the Foundation Portfolio and Advanced Portfolio. Additionally, they may make reference to other media production work but this is strictly optional.


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Question Answer Marks Content grammar but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure

meaning. Level 2 (10-15 marks) Candidates offer a mostly clear, partly relevant and narrow range of examples of post-production and the importance of the examples in relation to outcomes. The account of progress made is limited. Examples are described with some discussion of their significance in relation to outcomes. The answer makes basic use of relevant media terminology. Some simple ideas have been expressed in an appropriate context. There are likely to be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar of which some may be noticeable and intrusive. Level 1 (0-9 marks) The answer is descriptive and may offer limited clarity. There is little, if any, evaluation of progress. Examples are partly relevant and their significance in relation to post-production and outcomes is partly clear. The answer offers minimal use of relevant media terminology. Some simple ideas have been expressed. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar which will be noticeable and intrusive. Writing may also lack legibility.

OCR Report to Centres – June 2012

G325 Principal Examiner Report

General Comments Once again it was pleasing to see candidates demonstrating their critical media literacy in responding to contemporary debates about the mediation of our social and cultural lives and in theorising their own creative practices. Whilst levels of quality and engagement were variable, the ‘spirit’ of this component appears to have been grasped and, in the main, critical reflection on media in relation to candidates’ own lives and culture was demonstrated across the cohort. Arguably, this is the ‘richest’ time since the inception of the specification for candidates to be responding to these questions – the role of media in socio-political life and digital media technology in the ‘lifeworld’ has been a constant theme in public discourse for the last year and, as expected, the candidates who embraced the ‘now’ of these critical perspectives were those that, generally, received marks in the level 4 band. The most important point to stress in this report is that some of the perennial flaws in candidates’ approaches to this paper are at the level of the centre and, thus it is reasonable to hypothesise, a symptom of pedagogy rather than candidate aptitude. This is worrying. The most common of these are a failure to engage with contemporary examples (texts, case studies, debates, institutional practices and / or policy from within five years of the examination); a failure to distinguish between the requirements for 1a (process, decisions made) and 1b (textual analysis using media concepts); a failure to distinguish between the coursework evaluation questions and section A of G325; a failure to apply academic theory in section B (most commonly evident in answers on the online age and regulation) and a failure to engage with alternative arguments within a debate, resulting in one sided answers (most commonly found in online age / democracy / global media). Centres are urged to ensure that schemes of work are in synch with the requirements of the specification. The following reflections on candidate responses and performance is an accumulation of reports submitted by all of the examiners. As such, it combines ‘macro’ level observations of general trends and patterns with ‘micro’ level examples of particular successes and problems. Section A 1(a) As one examiner expresses it, “the question was touching on the idea that, even at the back end of the production process, in the geeky world of software editing where attention to detail is paramount, decisions can be inspired and 'creative'”. Where candidates were able to offer detailed and sustained examples of post-production decisions and outcomes, answers were strong and well rewarded. These details included editing, image manipulation, changes after evaluation and feedback, title design, sound editing and marketing. Those that offered merely a narrative account of these were rewarded in level 2. Those that linked these creative decisions to outcomes, combined with a critical reflection on progress made over time, were rewarded in levels 3 and 4. There was frequently a fair discussion of creative decisions, but these were often concerned with storyboards, camera angles, planning and general research, and this did not answer the post-production root of the question. Unfortunately a significant number of candidates attempted to ‘redirect’ the question to a prepared answer on something else – research and planning and / or conventions of media texts, which in most cases couldn’t work. And a significant minority mistook POST production for PRE production, leading to very low marks being available to them.

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Reflecting on Past Student Work Read through the example thinking about the assessment criteria

Explanation/analysis/argument (10 marks) Use of examples (10 marks) Use of terminology (5 marks).

• Highlight in one colour every time a technical/ media term is used. • In another colour highlight where they have used an example from their work to

illustrate a point • In a third colour highlight where they explain the effect or reason, make an

evaluative/ judgement style statement and/or make a link to a central argument/ idea/ theme that runs through the essay

Make a list of all the positive features of the essay:

Based on the assessment criteria what advice would you give this student about how to improve their work?

What aspects, ideas, points could you used from this essay in your own?


2

G325 Section A (50 marks maximum).

Question 1a Question 1b 0 marks = no response or no response worthy of credit

Level 4

There is a clear sense of progression and of how examples have been selected, and a range of articulate reflections on the use of post-production. There is a fluent evaluation of progress made over time. Candidates offer a range of specific, relevant and clear examples of post-production and creative decision making. The use of media terminology is excellent. Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a style of writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences and paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

[21-25]

Level 3

There is some sense of progression and of how examples have been selected, and some useful descriptions of post-production. Progress made is described and evaluated with clarity. Candidates offer a mostly clear, mostly relevant and reasonable range of examples of post-production in relation to decisions and outcomes. The answer makes proficient use of media terminology throughout. Relatively straightforward ideas have been expressed with some clarity and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure meaning.

[16-20]

Level 2

Candidates offer a mostly clear, partly relevant and narrow range of examples of post-production and creative decision making. The account of progress made is limited. Examples are described with some discussion of their significance in relation to decisions and outcomes. The answer makes basic use of relevant media terminology. Some simple ideas have been expressed in an appropriate context. There are likely to be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar of which some may be noticeable and intrusive.

[10-15]

Level 1

The answer is descriptive and may offer limited clarity. There is little, if any, evaluation of progress. Examples are partly relevant and their significance in relation to post production is partly clear. The answer offers minimal use of relevant media terminology. Some simple ideas have been expressed. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar which will be noticeable and intrusive. Writing may also lack legibility.

[0-9]

OCR Report to Centres – June 2014

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G325 Critical Perspectives in Media General Comments: The demands of this examination are significant and commensurate with A2, requiring candidates to account for their creative decision making as media producers, working within established industry practices; theorise their own media production conceptually and then take a critically informed, academic perspective on a contemporary debate relating to the role of media in society and in their own lives. As is always the case, level 4 responses were those that managed to sustain excellence across those three elements, with an academic focus on the contemporary in section B, coupled with the ability to ‘wear two hats’ in section A (those of producer and analyst of their own textual outcomes). Comments on Individual Questions: 1a Where candidates were able to explain the significance of post-production and apply this to a range of incrementally developing examples from AS and A2 and map post-production decisions to textual outcomes (ie what difference the decision made to the final text), candidates were awarded the higher levels. These candidates gave a wide range of precise examples - describing and evaluating their intentions in relation to, for example, effects/filters and the effect of their post-production decisions on the audience. A surprising number of candidates wrote about pre-production (research and planning) instead of post-production. A further significant minority included feedback and online promotion, re-filming and evaluation as post-production, which examiners disregarded unless there was a clear connection to the ‘core business’ of post-production. 1b In one sense (engagement with media theories), this was the strongest session so far for this question. However, the key determining factor in allocating marks was the ability to relate specific elements of genre theory (from Neale across forms and Goodwin in relation to music video, most often) to the text in question with conviction and precision. Where candidates were able to relate theories more generally understood in relation to narrative and representation to genre, this was creditable but in many cases the ideas of Mulvey, Hall, Barthes or Todorov were applied without a clear account of how these relate to the generic elements of candidates’ texts. Once again, there were a significant number of cases of candidates objectifying women in order to ‘apply the male gaze’ and this confusion of theoretical concept with production technique does suggest a lack of the critical media literacy required for the higher levels at A2. Acceptable, but lower range answers accounted for codes and conventions, cinematography and mise en scene. Higher level answers discussed genre as a concept, rather than a ‘given’. Sadly, a significant minority of candidates confused genre and gender. Section B The most popular themes were collective identity, media in the online age, regulation and postmodern media. Candidates achieving higher levels used a range of examples and theorists from across the spectrum of the debate in question to support their argument and directly answered the question set. As there is a choice offered for each topic, this is very important, as is deploying a range of contemporary examples from different media, with some historical context and future projection. Weaker answers failed to make connections between theorists’ ideas and the candidates’ chosen examples.

Reflecting on Past Student Work Read through the example thinking about the assessment criteria

Explanation/analysis/argument (10 marks) Use of examples (10 marks) Use of terminology (5 marks).

• Highlight in one colour every time a technical/ media term is used. • In another colour highlight where they have used an example from their work to

illustrate a point • In a third colour highlight where they explain the effect or reason, make an

evaluative/ judgement style statement and/or make a link to a central argument/ idea/ theme that runs through the essay

Make a list of all the positive features of the essay:

Based on the assessment criteria what advice would you give this student about how to improve their work?

What aspects, ideas, points could you used from this essay in your own?

post production example booklet

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