Analysis of my AS Coursework...

Digital Technology

"A branch of knowledge which deals with and leads to the possible use of any electronic devices that can be used to undertake tasks such as recording a film, editing film, taking photos or playing music"
In application to my AS Media Coursework Digital technology for me, was the use of various cameras and software which allowed me to complete my coursework. To begin with, I used a SLR Camera with studio lighting to increase the quality of my images. These were then edited on Adobe Photoshop. Next I used an Autocue and Greenscreen in the production of my Planning Documentary this was edited and produced in Adobe Premier and Aftereffects. I also burned my coursework onto a DVD with the help of Adobe Encore.

Research and planning

 This is the stage used to gather information on your chosen topic of research. The planning stage is used to help you organise thoughts and ideas into a manageable format thus allowing you to utilise them in a sensible and effective manner.

My research and planning stage for my coursework is quite detailed and this helped me to keep ahead of the ‘curfews’ I had set myself. I followed the styles and genre of articles favoured by music magazines I wished to emanate. For example I looked especially at the American music magazine Billboard. Billboard I found was the most long lasting and most successful music magazine in America (over 100 years old). It covered all genres of music and this was what I wanted my magazine to be like. The more research I did the more I could apply to my coursework to make it look life-like and professional.

Skills Development:

The improvement or increase of one’s personal skills or achievements.In my AS Coursework I made a huge jump in my skills development as my skills at GCSE were still very basic. At the beginning of our AS project we made our preliminary tasks and in this my basic skills are clearly displayed. My final coursework conveys how my technical abilities improved e.g I can now produce and edit a video using premier and after effects.

Creativity

Creativity is a mental process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts, fuelled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity

For my preliminary task I displayed creative ability through my front cover. I took a photograph of myself reflected in a mirror. I had a feeling that the photographic results would in fact be quite good, as Frank Capra once said ‘A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.’  This befitted the main article as it fit in with the context of the article as well as the main protagonist.

This definition is true of my creative process in creating my AS Media Coursework as I used my own ideas as well as existing ideas to help me form the basis of my magazine. For example I may have thought of the colour scheme, model and the props and costumes I used in my magazine but I would have been influenced by unconsciously through my knowledge of semiotics. I also used my conscious insight to use ideas from other magazines and their articles which were similar to the magazine I wished to emanate.

Intertextuality

In a text, implied references to or implied influences from another text. This concept allows a reader to make links between genres, and to see how themes, plot, etc. may develop or change in relation or in light of that other text. http://people.virginia.edu/~jrw3k/Front%20Pages/Critical%20Vocabulary.htm

Intertextuality has, as critic William Irwin says, “Come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence”. The term is relatively new and was first coined by Julia Kristeva in 1966, it was an attempt made by her to combine the study of semiotics (signs and symbols) with dialogism (study of multiple meanings in texts and words).

In my AS Coursework I used Intertextuality by referencing different artists, eras and genres of music. This was important as my coursework was made to emanate the experience of a music magazine; with magazines being perhaps one of the most popular form of Intertextuality. It references beauty products, current events, as well as social events, physical and cyber, such as facebook, myspace, music festivals and music concerts.