Showing posts with label A2 Exam Prep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A2 Exam Prep. Show all posts
Friday, 12 May 2017
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Writing an exam answer
This post is general advice for any exam paper and follows on from the previous post about preparing for exams.
1. After dividing up your time for the paper, so you know how long you will spend on each question (related to the marks available), your next step is to see, where there is a choice of question, which one you will choose. You may be lucky and spot a question straight away that absolutely suits your material. But if not, the key is to read the question carefully and look for key words or triggers which will help you. Are there media terms in it that point you to what it is looking for, like 'distribution' or 'regulation'? Even if it doesn't make absolute sense to you at first glance, those key words are likely to be designed to help you rather than catch you out.
2. A little planning goes a long way. Spend the first couple of minutes of the time you have allocated mapping out how you are going to answer the question- bullet points for each paragraph with examples you intend to use. This is useful should your mind go blank and in simply structuring the next 45 minutes or however long you are spending on it, but also in flagging up to the examiner where you would have gone if you do by chance run out of time.
3. Get on with it. You need an introduction, but you need it to be short and to the point. Don't ramble. Even if you have a formula that you practice beforehand, that usually won't do any harm. You need something to guarantee getting you started and fast! So how about 'In this essay I shall show how (whatever is being asked about) applies to (text 1) and (text 2).' This gets you moving and tells the examiner what you will be using as your main example. Same thing with endings. You need to conclude, so that the essay doesn't appear to have stopped in mid-air, but it can be quite brief: 'So as we have seen, (whatever is being asked about) can be applied to (text 1) and (text 2)'. Of course it's not precisely these words that you'll use, but keeping it simple means you've got time to get on with the main body of it!
4. Paragraphs. Use them. And leave a gap between each one so the marker can read them. Ideally, each paragraph will deal with one main idea and support that idea or point with examples. But even if your paragraph doesn't do what it should, just physically breaking up the page makes a huge difference for the reader. Most students don't have beautiful handwriting, especially these days when we use keyboards so much, so make it easy for the examiner to read what you have written! Leave spaces between paragraphs and keep paragraphs relatively short. a rule of thumb is that if you have less than two paragraphs on a page, you probably aren't breaking it up enough. Aim for three.
5. Examples. Use them. they are the thing that most frequently go AWOL in a student exam answer. Students tend to trot out arguments and then not back them up. that is true in lots of subjects. So make sure each point you make has something solid to back it up- a sequence from the TV programme that shows what you are arguing about representation, some figures from that film marketing campaign that support your point.
6. Structure. Have one. If you plan your answer as an argument, this will ensure you follow it through. Point, Example, Explanation is all very well, but if the points are all disjointed, that's not much use!
So there you go- good luck!
1. After dividing up your time for the paper, so you know how long you will spend on each question (related to the marks available), your next step is to see, where there is a choice of question, which one you will choose. You may be lucky and spot a question straight away that absolutely suits your material. But if not, the key is to read the question carefully and look for key words or triggers which will help you. Are there media terms in it that point you to what it is looking for, like 'distribution' or 'regulation'? Even if it doesn't make absolute sense to you at first glance, those key words are likely to be designed to help you rather than catch you out.
2. A little planning goes a long way. Spend the first couple of minutes of the time you have allocated mapping out how you are going to answer the question- bullet points for each paragraph with examples you intend to use. This is useful should your mind go blank and in simply structuring the next 45 minutes or however long you are spending on it, but also in flagging up to the examiner where you would have gone if you do by chance run out of time.
3. Get on with it. You need an introduction, but you need it to be short and to the point. Don't ramble. Even if you have a formula that you practice beforehand, that usually won't do any harm. You need something to guarantee getting you started and fast! So how about 'In this essay I shall show how (whatever is being asked about) applies to (text 1) and (text 2).' This gets you moving and tells the examiner what you will be using as your main example. Same thing with endings. You need to conclude, so that the essay doesn't appear to have stopped in mid-air, but it can be quite brief: 'So as we have seen, (whatever is being asked about) can be applied to (text 1) and (text 2)'. Of course it's not precisely these words that you'll use, but keeping it simple means you've got time to get on with the main body of it!
4. Paragraphs. Use them. And leave a gap between each one so the marker can read them. Ideally, each paragraph will deal with one main idea and support that idea or point with examples. But even if your paragraph doesn't do what it should, just physically breaking up the page makes a huge difference for the reader. Most students don't have beautiful handwriting, especially these days when we use keyboards so much, so make it easy for the examiner to read what you have written! Leave spaces between paragraphs and keep paragraphs relatively short. a rule of thumb is that if you have less than two paragraphs on a page, you probably aren't breaking it up enough. Aim for three.
5. Examples. Use them. they are the thing that most frequently go AWOL in a student exam answer. Students tend to trot out arguments and then not back them up. that is true in lots of subjects. So make sure each point you make has something solid to back it up- a sequence from the TV programme that shows what you are arguing about representation, some figures from that film marketing campaign that support your point.
6. Structure. Have one. If you plan your answer as an argument, this will ensure you follow it through. Point, Example, Explanation is all very well, but if the points are all disjointed, that's not much use!
So there you go- good luck!
Monday, 4 May 2015
The A2 Exam - Links to material
links to posts on the A2 exam
General Advice and a page of all the old questions
How to approach q.1a
How to approach q.1b
Contemporary Media Regulation
Media in the online Age
Global Media
Postmodernism
WeMedia and Democracy
Media and Collective Identity
Tips on organising answers to 1a and 1b
Structuring an answer to Online Age question (also useful for other topics)
General Advice and a page of all the old questions
How to approach q.1a
How to approach q.1b
Contemporary Media Regulation
Media in the online Age
Global Media
Postmodernism
WeMedia and Democracy
Media and Collective Identity
Tips on organising answers to 1a and 1b
Structuring an answer to Online Age question (also useful for other topics)
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
Monday, 28 May 2012
A2 Media G325 - How to Approach Q1a
Approaching Question 1a
These are the previous questions which came up for this part of the exam:
Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.
Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.
Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.
You will notice that each of these begins by asking you to 'describe' and then goes on to ask you to reflect in some way: "evaluate", "how you used" "how your skills developed". herein lies the key to this part of the exam! You only have half an hour for the question and you really need to make the most of that time by quickly moving from description (so the reader knows what you did) to analysis/evaluation/reflection, so he/she starts to understand what you learnt from it.
there are five possible areas which can come up
So, how do you get started preparing and revising this stuff? I would suggest that you begin by setting out, on cards or post-its, a list of answers to these questions:
What production activities have you done?
This should include both the main task and preliminary task from AS and the main and ancillaries at A2 plus any non-assessed activities you have done as practice, and additionally anything you have done outside the course which you might want to refer to, such as films made for other courses or skateboard videos made with your mates if you think you can make them relevant to your answer.
What digital technology have you used?
This should not be too hard- include hardware (cameras, phones for pictures/audio, computers and anything else you used) software (on your computer) and online programs, such as blogger, youtube etc
In what ways can the work you have done be described as creative?
This is a difficult question and one that does not have a correct answer as such, but ought to give you food for thought.
What different forms of research did you do?
Again you will need to include a variety of examples- institutional research (such as on how titles work in film openings), audience research (before you made your products and after you finished for feedback), research into conventions of media texts (layout, fonts, camera shots, soundtracks, everything!) and finally logistical research- recce shots of your locations, research into costume, actors, etc
What conventions of real media did you need to know about?
For this, it is worth making a list for each project you have worked on and categorising them by medium so that you don’t repeat yourself
What do you understand by ‘post-production’ in your work?
This one, I’ll answer for you- for the purpose of this exam, it is defined as everything after planning and shooting or live recording. In other words, the stage of your work where you manipulated your raw material on the computer, maybe using photoshop, a video editing program or desktop publishing.
For each of these lists, your next stage is to produce a set of examples- so that when you make the point in the exam, you can then back it up with a concrete example. You need to be able to talk about specific things you did in post-production and why they were significant, just as you need to do more than just say ‘I looked on youtube’ for conventions of real media, but actually name specific videos you looked at, what you gained from them and how they influenced your work.
This question will be very much about looking at your skills development over time, the process which brought about this progress, most if not all the projects you worked on from that list above, and about reflection on how how you as a media student have developed. Unusually, this is an exam which rewards you for talking about yourself and the work you have done!
Final tips: you need some practice- this is very hard to do without it! I’d have a crack at trying to write an essay on each of the areas, or at the very least doing a detailed plan with lots of examples. The fact that it is a 30 minute essay makes it very unusual, so you need to be able to tailor your writing to that length- a tough task!
These are the previous questions which came up for this part of the exam:
Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.
Describe the ways in which your production work was informed by research into real media texts and how your ability to use such research for production developed over time.
Describe how you developed your skills in the use of digital technology for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to your creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.
You will notice that each of these begins by asking you to 'describe' and then goes on to ask you to reflect in some way: "evaluate", "how you used" "how your skills developed". herein lies the key to this part of the exam! You only have half an hour for the question and you really need to make the most of that time by quickly moving from description (so the reader knows what you did) to analysis/evaluation/reflection, so he/she starts to understand what you learnt from it.
there are five possible areas which can come up
- Digital technology
- Research and Planning
- Conventions of Real Media
- Post-Production
- Creativity.
So, how do you get started preparing and revising this stuff? I would suggest that you begin by setting out, on cards or post-its, a list of answers to these questions:
What production activities have you done?
This should include both the main task and preliminary task from AS and the main and ancillaries at A2 plus any non-assessed activities you have done as practice, and additionally anything you have done outside the course which you might want to refer to, such as films made for other courses or skateboard videos made with your mates if you think you can make them relevant to your answer.
What digital technology have you used?
This should not be too hard- include hardware (cameras, phones for pictures/audio, computers and anything else you used) software (on your computer) and online programs, such as blogger, youtube etc
In what ways can the work you have done be described as creative?
This is a difficult question and one that does not have a correct answer as such, but ought to give you food for thought.
What different forms of research did you do?
Again you will need to include a variety of examples- institutional research (such as on how titles work in film openings), audience research (before you made your products and after you finished for feedback), research into conventions of media texts (layout, fonts, camera shots, soundtracks, everything!) and finally logistical research- recce shots of your locations, research into costume, actors, etc
What conventions of real media did you need to know about?
For this, it is worth making a list for each project you have worked on and categorising them by medium so that you don’t repeat yourself
What do you understand by ‘post-production’ in your work?
This one, I’ll answer for you- for the purpose of this exam, it is defined as everything after planning and shooting or live recording. In other words, the stage of your work where you manipulated your raw material on the computer, maybe using photoshop, a video editing program or desktop publishing.
For each of these lists, your next stage is to produce a set of examples- so that when you make the point in the exam, you can then back it up with a concrete example. You need to be able to talk about specific things you did in post-production and why they were significant, just as you need to do more than just say ‘I looked on youtube’ for conventions of real media, but actually name specific videos you looked at, what you gained from them and how they influenced your work.
This question will be very much about looking at your skills development over time, the process which brought about this progress, most if not all the projects you worked on from that list above, and about reflection on how how you as a media student have developed. Unusually, this is an exam which rewards you for talking about yourself and the work you have done!
Final tips: you need some practice- this is very hard to do without it! I’d have a crack at trying to write an essay on each of the areas, or at the very least doing a detailed plan with lots of examples. The fact that it is a 30 minute essay makes it very unusual, so you need to be able to tailor your writing to that length- a tough task!
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