Year 12 students commence the course in September, and their first task is the Foundation Production module, worth 40% of the AS grade. Students have a choice of two different coursework options, either Magazines or Adverts. For Magazines, students must produce a minimum of 4 pages from a new teenage magazine, aimed at an audience of 13 - 19 year olds. The second option, Advertising, requires students to produce a set of four Charity or Public Health advertisements.
In the first few weeks of the course, students are taught about the forms and conventions of Magazines and Adverts, as well as Media language. In addition, they are taught how to use the Emac software programmes such as Photoshop, Appleworks, and for the more able, QuarkExpress. By the October half term, students should have chosen which type of coursework they will produce, and begun planning, drafting, and creating their magazines or adverts.
Both coursework options require students to take a minimum of four original images, photographs which the students have taken themselves, and marks are awarded for the quality of the images, as well as how the student's work resembles a real media production, and how well the student uses ICT. By the December hand in date, students should have completed their adverts or magazines, plus a 2000 production log. This write up should contain four 500 word sections, on Research, Planning, Construction, and Evaluation, in which students will explain their decisions and choices as well as using Media terms to show their awareness of how different Media texts communicate. In addition, students should hand in an appendix containing notes and draft work, as well as a bibliography.
Requirements for Foundation Production
Examples of student work