Mark Scheme work

In Friday's lesson we were presented with the mark scheme for A2 blog work and the links to three exemplar blogs chosen by the exam board. We were told to view the research and planning elements of the blog as well as the blog overall and decide what grade (out of 20 marks) we would give each blog for research and planning.

The blogs were:
http//:blogs.grammar.sch.gg/00laner01,
http//:blogs.grammar.sch.gg/gabriellesmith &
http//:blogs.grammar.sch.gg/danieldegaris

After looking at the blogs, we were instructed to then consider our own blogs and identify three ways in which we can improve our blog now and three things we will do over the A2 course to ensure we maximise our blog's potential to achieve full marks in the research and planning section.

3 Things I can improve now:

>Make posts neater, more elaborate and grammatically accurate using more screenshots, technical language and stylised writing
>Make the layout of my blog more accessible by simplifying it, beginning to use labels to ensure easy navigation and making it more attractive using neutral colours and consistent font to draw more attention to my posts
>Continue adding posts and creating my preliminary task in order to become completely up-to-date and prepared to begin my coursework in September

3 Things I will do across the A2 Year:

>Try to make a new blog post every day about what I have learned in class/a new idea I have had in order to bulk out my blog, showing that I have done more than just the minimum planning that is expected
>Manage my time better than in the AS year, making my film in good time and leaving myself less time pressure upon editing, evaluating and publishing my finish project. This includes maintaining my blog throughout the year to ensure that nothing is left out and needs to be done at the last minute.
>Make sure that the planning for my final piece is clear, organised and easy to follow by limited the amount of work that becomes sporadic as I tend to become confused and stressed if I cannot follow the guidelines I have set myself. By clearly setting out a plan for myself I will be able to carry out the production relatively stress-free, which will allow me to enjoy the filmmaking process more.

Research and planning - Image task

In class today, we were given the task of creating a narrative. We were first given an image and told to write three questions about it. We then passed along the photo and someone else answered them as creatively as they can. Finally, we mixed around the pictures again so that we got one that we had not received  before.

We then had to create a narrative for a music video/short film using the answers to the question. This is what I received and created:

Research into student made music videos

This video for "If I Had A Gun" by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds is purposefully created in reverse order to the order by which the events in the video actually took place, with the first shot being in a graveyard and the final shot being at the scene of a car accident, suggesting that the main character in the video is attending the funeral of the girl who was in the car with him. There is no lip-syncing in this video, and an ongoing narrative is used throughout in order to draw attention to the events (that partially correspond to the lyrics of the song). There is a complete lack of live performance in the video which draws attention the the lyrics as well as the storyline because the viewer has to focus harder in order to follow the story as it may not be clear from the beginning. There are two key characters. The first character is a man who progressively becomes less ready for the funeral throughout the video by removing items of his clothing such as his suit jacket, his tie and his shirt, this is contrasted at the end by the addition of a coat which he finds covering the injured girl. The man is used to tell the story backwards, going from the funeral situation to the original accident which he relives as he repositions himself and his partner in the car. The other character is the woman who only becomes apparent at the end. She is found lying next to the car and, upon seeing her, the audience finally understands the narrative of the video, where the man is reliving his experience. There are several locations, the most significant of which are the graveyard and the site of the crash. These two contrasting locations summarise the whole video, portraying the accident and then the fact that the woman died but the man survived. This corresponds with the sense of guilt that can be felt in the lyrics of the song.