Priscilla Revision Part 2

Here is my take on the revision questions I posted yesterday. I’ve filled in some ideas thoughts in the 4th column that should help you and point you in the right direction for adding more.

What I would highly recommend (i.e.: DO IT!) is picking specific scenes/sequences/shots to illustrate the various points made. Yes, it’ll mean a fair amount of work, but it’s what you are meant to do!

Enjoy… and here’s the file:

Click the icon to download!

 

Priscilla: Quine o’ the Dessert (1)

Nothing posted yesterday — mainly due to a series of unfortunate events that (amongst other things) involved standing in a blizzard at the side of a busy dual carriageway trying to fix the car. Not recommended!

Anyway, this is the first of the Prelim prep/revision posts. Keep your eyes peeled as there will be a few of these over the course of the day. This first one will cover some of the basics you must know. Feel free to post suggestions/ideas/answers/questions/requests for clarification in the comments. I will be online working on this most of the day, so should be able to reply within 30 minutes or so (if I take longer, I’m walking the dog or eating).

SQA Exam: The Basics

When answering, there are some things you must mention…

1. Know the details of the text… and remember to introduce your chosen abbreviation: The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert (PQD), (Australia, 1994) dir: Stephan Elliott.
2. Mention the genre(s) straight away (i.e.: Primary genre, and I recommend mentioning at least two other genres that PQD could be considered as an example of)
3. Identify and reference several key scenes in your intro. (You may not have time, or the desire, to write about all of them, but in highlighting them, you are demonstrating your knowledge of the film as a whole)
4. Remember the importance of using appropriate media specific terminology (e.g.: cultural codes, mis-en-scene, intertextuality, and especially… remember that the SQA’s favourite verb for media is ‘connote’)

What I recommend you do now is take 10 minutes to note down what you would say with regards 2 and 3 above.

The next post will be looking at some of the codes used in the film. (Or more likely, in retrospect, I’ll identify what I think some of the key scenes to be first!)

Later! 😉

Planning Maps

Just a quick upload today. One you’ve seen, the other is what we’ll be looking at tomorrow.

First up is the outline planning map you should use to consider what your product/brand represents. It’s fairly straight-forward, and the McD example we looked at in class should help you make sense of it.

Remember, this map is useful for getting to grips with what it is you are going to produce. It is NOT map for your product… that’s this one:

This will be the focus for tomorrow’s lesson. If you have time, I’d recommend clicking through on it and looking at it full size so you can see the small print.

There are 8 separate areas to consider and cover when you create your product (and note, though the example I’ll used is for an advertising poster, these are applicable no matter which media product you choose), and each becomes an area that you will need to know for the final exam (and, the prelim, of course!). A quick guide follows:

1. Purpose/Target Audience: What is the product for, and who is it intended to be consumed by?
2. Research: Find out what is already out there.
3. Internal/External Factors: Internal factors relate to the (for example) iconography/expectations of the brand and/or product. External factors are relevant regulations/laws over what you can or can’t say and do in your product.
4. Media/Genre: What are you producing and where will it be consumed.
5. Content: Choosing what goes into your product.
6. Tone/Style: Decisions on the format and look of the product.
7. Cultural codes: What elements appropriate to the focus will be included.
8. Technical codes: Decisions on the technical act of creating your product.

Hopefully, you already have a good grasp of these concepts, but we’ll be working through an example in class before getting you to develop your own product.

As ever, feel free to ask questions in the comments or in class. 🙂