Chief Examiner's Guide to Section A of the Exam

Critical Perspectives - Question 1a Mark Scheme

I have pasted below the generic mark scheme for question 1a. Use this to allocate a mark to the 3 candidates' work.

Critical Perspectives - Question 1a

Here are some candidates responses to question 1a which have been provided by OCR

Your task is to put them into a rank order. 

Which is the strongest and which is the 

weakest? 

How many marks would you award each using the mark scheme?

Section 1A - Digital Technology

When considering your use of Digital Technology, how have your skills have progressed and how have they helped you in your productions?

Provide an answer to the above question. 

Your answer could be in the form of an essay BUT, equally, it could be in the form of a mind map, notes or other visual aid. The choice is yours.

The important thing to think about is what skills did you have in relation to digital technology at the start of Year 12 and what skills do you have now? How have these developed through the work you have done?

Things to think about....

Digital technologies have a had a massive influence on media production over the last few years and since you started in Year 12 you have learned a massive amount about how to use them and what the benefits are of using them.  They in turn have had a massive impact on the quality of your finished products.

You could start by producing a list of digital technologies that you have used. 

Start with internet based applications which have allowed you to access content created by others or to create your own content - these are Web 2.0. Blogger, Prezi, Youtube, Facebook, Survey Monkey, etc.

What about equipment you have used? iPads, camcorders (name and model), DSLRs (name and model)..

What about software? iMovie, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Photoshop CS6, any others?

Adobe Premiere-Pro in comparison to I Movie – Had zero experience at the beginning and have now moved from basic editing to more complex editing, effects, transitions, sound manipulation.  Quick to upload so something can be filmed, uploaded and edited in a matter of minutes. Be specific – What specific techniques did you use and where? How have your skills developed in the use of APP?

Social Networking Sites – Allow you to communicate with a far wider network of people than other websites.  You could have used this to gather audience research, upload your video and ask for feedback etc..  Be specific – Give an example of something you did using facbook etc. 

You Tube – Allows you to communicate with a far wider network of people than other websites. Allowed you to research existing opening sequences and music videos. You uploaded your opening sequences and used the feedback / comments that people posted to help you improve when it came to your A2 productions etc.. Enabled you to post your own video to a massive audience.  Be specific – Give example of real video you looked at, real comment you got etc..

Digital Cameras – Never used before.  Struggled initially with holding steady shots, framing etc..  But they allow instant playback, LCD screen, small, portable (in comparison to larger older bulkier cameras) etc.  Allowed you to film in small spaces, to easily travel to film, to film something and view it straight away to check if was ok.  Now can easily film a variety of shot types.

Photoshop  (you used to use Word and Powerpoint etc) – Photoshop allows manipulation of images, effects, colours, cropping, layering images and words.  Be specific – What did you do on Photoshop?

Other technologies you could mention include : Glogster, Blogging, Prezi, Internet 

Conclusion: Digital Technology has enabled you (a consumer of media) to become a producer that can not only make a higher quality media product, but edit it and distribute it to a wide audience..

Remember that the examiner won't check what you say you have done and they won't have your coursework to check this against either.

To get A and B grades

To get the higher grades on this question, you need to ensure you are not just DESCRIBING how your skills developed.  Instead you need to focus on the EVALUATE part.  To EVALUATE you could comment on any of the following throughout your work:

• HOW important digital technology was
• WHY was digital technology important
• WHAT EFFECT did digital technology have on your final work
• WHAT would you NOT have been able to do without digital technology?
• HOW did digital technology benefit you?

Section A Overview

The explanation of Section A of the exam from OCR is as follows:

Candidates answer two compulsory questions. 

The first requires them to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. 

The second asks them to identify one production and evaluate it in relation to one theoretical concept.

Question 1(a) requires candidates to describe and evaluate their skills development over the course of their production work, from Foundation Portfolio to Advanced Portfolio. 

The focus of this evaluation must be on skills development, and the question will require them to adapt this to one or two specific production practices. 

The list of practices to which questions will relate is as follows:

• Digital Technology
• Creativity
• Research and planning
• Post-production
• Using conventions from real media texts

Question 1(b) requires candidates to select one production and evaluate it in relation to a media concept. In the examination, questions will be set using one of these concepts only.

The list of concepts to which questions will relate is as follows:

• Genre
• Narrative
• Representation
• Audience
• Media language

Media language refers to the ways in which media producers make meaning in ways that are specific to the medium in which they are working and how audiences come to be literate in ‘reading’ such meaning within the medium. 

For example, the ‘language of film’ would include all elements of use of the camera, sound, editing and mise-en-scene. 

Examples of Past Questions