INDUCTION

CREATIVE MEDIA
Introduction Unit 8 and Unit
25

Unit 8: Responding to a Commission - What is it?

 Externally assessed by PEARSON

 You will be given a media production brief, set by the exam board (Part A)

 You will have two weeks to plan and produce notes on the brief, which you can take into the exam (four sides of A4) - released on

 10 hrs outside of lesson

 2 hrs supervised

 After the two week planning period, you will then have 6 hours over two days to present your response in a supervised exam environment (Part B)

 The 6 hour assessment period will take place on TBC – exam conditions

 Pre release Monday 12th December. Window starts 12th January window ends 13th January. Sent off by 16th January

 Total marks: 72

You will be restricted to:

• three sides of A4 notes, which can be handwritten or typed. If typed, the text must be a minimum of 10 point font size
• information from primary and/or secondary research
• facts related to the commission and existing practice.
Learner notes cannot include:
• pre-prepared answers for activities
• assets or materials to be used in the activities.
Teachers/tutors should note that:

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• learners should not be given any direct guidance or prepared materials
• learners should not be given any support in writing or editing notes
• all work must be completed independently by the learner
• learner notes produced under monitored conditions must be checked to ensure that they comply with the limitations
• learner notes should be retained by the centre between the monitored sessions and the formal supervised assessment
• learner notes should be retained by the centre after the completion of assessment and may be requested by Pearson.

INDUCTION ACTIVITY - Research methods

FIND OUR THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION ON RESEARCH METHODS.

Task 1: Provide a definition for Primary research.

Primary research involves gathering data that has not been collected before. 

Collection of Primary data is gained through?

 Focus groups_____________________

 Questionnaires______________________

 Interviews______________________-

 Surverys_______________________

 Observations_______________________
Task 2: Provide a definition for Secondary research

Secondary research is a type of research that has already been compiled, gathered, organized and published by
others. It includes reports and studies by government agencies, trade associations or other businesses in your industry.

Collection of data is gained through:

Common secondary research methods include data collection through the internet, libraries, archives, schools and
organizational reports. Online data is data that is gathered via the internet.

Task 3: What is Quantitative research? ____

Quantitative research is all about numbers. It uses mathematical analysis and data to
shed light on important statistics about your business and market. This type of data, found via tactics such as multiple-
choice questionnaires, can help you gauge interest in your company and its offerings.
________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________What are the pros and cons of using quantitative data?

PROS CONS

 Easier to obtain large sample sizes.
 help to remove biases from the research and
make the findings more accurate
 You get a less detailed picture
 results are based on numerical responses and, as
a result, you get slightly less insight into the
thoughts, motivations, and drivers of your group.
You're lacking a key component: context.

Task 4: What is Qualitative research? _

Qualitative research is based on opinions, attitudes, beliefs and intentions. This kind of
research deals with questions such as "Why"? "Would?", or "How?" Qualitative research aims to understand why customers
behave in a certain way or how they may respond to a new product.
___________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________ What are the pros and cons of using qualitative data?

PROS CONS

1. Qualitative Research can capture changing

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 attitudes within a target groupsuch as 1. Sample size can be a big issue. If you seek to

consumers of a product or service, or attitudes infer from a sample of, for example, 200

in the workplace. employees, based upon a sample of 5

employees, this raises the question of whether

2. Qualitative approaches to research are not
sampling will provide a true reflection of the
bound by the limitations of quantitative
views of the remaining 97.5% of the
methods. If responses don’t fit the
company?
researcher’s expectation that’s equally useful

qualitative data to add context and 2. Sample bias - HR departments will have

perhaps explain something that numbers alone competing agendas. One argument against

are unable to reveal. qualitative methods alone is that HR tasked

with finding the views of the workforce may

3. Qualitative Research provides a much more
be influenced both consciously and
flexible approach. If useful insights are not
unconsciously, to select a sample that favours an
being captured researchers can quickly adapt
anticipated outcome.
questions, change the setting or any other

variable to improve responses.

Using Qualitative Research

Task 5: Qualitative research use forums, discussion groups and interviews. |List down the pros and cons of using these methods to obtain qualitative data.

PROS CONS

 Easily Measure Customer Reaction  Not as In-Depth as Other Market Research

 Time-Saving Opportunity  Expense

 Methodologies such as Focus Groups allow for rich discussion  Moderator Bias
and probing, which is unmatched in quantitative research.  Expensive, and tough to get right
Stimulation of new ideas, flexibility in the questions asked, and
enhanced opinions are among the many advantages of
conducting qualitative research

Task 6: Explain what are open and closed questions. _ Open-ended questions are broad and can be answered in detail (e.g. "What do you think about this
product?"), while closed-ended questions are narrow in focus and usually answered with a single word or a pick from limited multiple-choice options (e.g. "Are
you satisfied with this product?" → Yes/No/Mostly/Not quite). ____________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

PROVIDE 3 OPEN QUESTIONS PROVIDE 3 CLOSED QUESTIONS

Tell me about yourself. Become an expert but write questions for those who aren't. ...
How would you describe yourself? Keep questions simple and clear. ...

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 How would your boss/co-workers and/or subordinates describe you? Ensure answer choices are exclusive and exhaustive. ...
What motivates you? Only provide relevant answers.
What do you see as your strengths? Should I date him?
What accomplishments are you particularly proud of? Will you please do me a favor?
Have you already completed your homework?
Is that your final answer?
Are you feeling better today?

Task 7: Look at the brief and spend the rest of the time going over the brief, and
ask yourself - what data will help me with the production of my video? What do I need to know and find out?

SOUND RECORDING: Unit 25

For this unit you have got to understand sound-recording equipment, techniques and
technology. Learning aim A is concerned with sound recording, the factors that affect
recordings, the techniques that can be employed to capture audio and the technology
involved.
Over the next week, you will need to conduct research into the following areas. Please
produce a Word document including information and any relevant images or diagrams about
the following...

A1: Signal paths and levels, audio-file formats

• Audio signal paths, analogue, digital: including recording (microphone types, audio lead,
recording medium) and replay – format (disc, SD card, hard disk drive), pre-amplifiers,
amplifiers, loudspeaker/headphones, sound.
 The signal path has the signal from the microphone pass from the microphone through
those (and potentially other) devices on the way to being recorded or amplified (or
both).
 Analog media is like printed-paper, recorded sound, magazine, videotapes, film and
so on, which in original form. For sound recorder, it can record the wave of sound and
play it on the sound recorder. It does not need any help of machine to play the sound.
 The difference between analog and digital technologies is that in analog technology,
information is translated into electric pulses of varying amplitude. In digital
technology, translation of information is into binary format (zero or one) where each
bit is representative of two distinct amplitudes.

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• Sound levels: replay levels – according to power of amplifier, taste and environment,
decibels (db) and recording levels – sounds recorded at levels relative to each other,
maximum record level, distortion, optimum record levels.
 Sound level refers to various logarithmic measurements of audible vibrations and may
refer to: Sound exposure level, measure of the sound exposure of a sound relative to a
reference value. Sound power level, measure of the rate at which sound energy is
emitted, reflected, transmitted or received, per unit time.

• Sound file formats and their applications in recording sound: including audio coding
formats and audio codecs, uncompressed file formats, WAV, AIFF, compressed lossless file
formats – Apple.m4a, MPEG-4, windows media lossless (WMA), compressed lossy file
formats – MP3 & similar
 In software, an audio codec is a computer program implementing an algorithm that
compresses and decompresses digital audio data according to a given audio file or
streaming media audio coding format.
 An audio coding format (or sometimes audio compression format) is a content
representation format for storage or transmission of digital audio (such as in digital
television, digital radio and in audio and video files). Examples of audio coding
formats include MP3, AAC, Vorbis, FLAC, and Opus.
 Mono and stereo recording and replay: recording a mono sound signal, recording a
stereo sound signal, sound stage, coincident crossed-pair microphones, replaying a
mono sound recording, replaying a stereo sound recording.
 The difference between monophonic (mono) and stereophonic (stereo) sound is the
number of channels used to record and playback audio. Mono signals are recorded
and played back using a single audio channel, while stereo sounds are recorded and
played back using two audio channels. As a listener, the most noticeable difference is
that stereo sounds are capable of producing the perception of width, whereas mono
sounds are not.

A2: Microphone types, accessories, mounts, applications, placement

• Microphone types – mono: construction – capacitor, condenser, dynamic, ribbon etc.
design – polar response, omnidirectional, cardioid, hypercardiod, (shotgun and parabolic),
noise-cancelling.
 Mono is short for monophonic. In English, mono means one, phonic means sound.
Therefore, as the name suggests, a mono microphone is the mic that delivers one
sound with one microphone capsule
 Is mono good for mic?
 It will make the subject's voice and the recording more intelligible. And whenever
recording interviews, always record in mono. Mono microphones also pick up sounds
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 at a greater distance than stereo microphones, again because their pickup pattern is
more focused and extraneous noise is reduced
• Microphone types – stereo: radio microphones, dual encapsulation.
Should my mic be mono or stereo?
 Mono recording is perfect for vocals and can work on other instruments. Stereo
recording works well on acoustic guitar and even drums. Mono mixing helps you end
up with a track that sounds good everywhere. And stereo mixing shows you the
beautiful stereo landscape you've created.
• Microphone accessories: mounts, floor stands, table stands, hand-held, camera mounted,
lavalier, set mounted, boom/dolly mounted, windshields.
 Microphone Stands.
 Microphone Clips.
 Microphone Clamps & Extensions.
 Microphone Wind Shields.
 Microphone Shock Mounts.
 Microphone Pop Filters.
 Microphone Reflection Filters.
 XLR Cables.
 Balanced signals improve the quality of an audio recording or amp up the sound in a
live performance without causing distortion. You can also plug your mic into in-line
accessories like adapters or amplifiers.
• Microphone use and acoustics: vocals, speech, commentary, music, sound effects,
ambient sounds, interior, exterior, reverberation (echo), crowds.

 A microphone is a device that translates sound vibrations in the air into electronic
signals and scribes them to a recording medium or over a loudspeaker. Microphones
enable many types of audio recording devices for purposes including communications
of many kinds, as well as music vocals, speech and sound recording.

• Microphone applications in live recording: vocal/voice, dialogue, commentary, lip-sync

for film/television, spot sound effects, ambient sound effects.
 Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public
address systems for concert halls and public events, motion picture production, live
and recorded audio engineering, sound recording, two-way radios, megaphones, and
radio and television broadcasting.

 Microphone placement for recording: distance from source of sound, bass

tip-up/proximity effect, inverse square law.

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  In live sound, proper microphone placement has three desirable results: it offers
optimal signal to noise ratio and gain before feedback and it captures the instrument's
"sweet spot". In live sound amplification, all three are critical for the best audio
performance.

A3 Sound recorders, connectors and connecting procedures

• Sound recorders (professional): portable/battery operated, studio/mains operated
applications – field/location recording, studio recording, interiors/exteriors, custom recorders,
recording software for computers.
 A voice recorder is essentially a digital device that records sound, saves it in file
format, and transfers it to another device, such as a computer. Popular file types
include MP3 and Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF).
 A mechanism that records sound tracks for sound motion pictures on a separate film
from the picture film. 2 : a device for recording sound on disc, tape, or film usually by
electronic means.
• Recording level measurement: volume unit meter (VU), peak programme meter (PPM),
peak signal level, tone, pitch, 0db.
 The decibel (dB) is a unit of measurement used to measure differences in relative
intensity. For our purposes here, the decibel is a measurement of sound pressure level
and signal level. Decibels can be very confusing for those new to recording because
of the different ways in which they are used.
• Sound signal levels: terms used by recording engineers, low, medium, high impedance
(ohms), input, output, line level, millivolts, monitoring using headphones, matching inputs to
outputs.
 The normal level of the audio signal in a professional studio is +4 dBu or about 1.23
volts (0 dBu=. 775 volts). When the console output meters read "0" on a VU meter,
the level of the signal is +4 dBu. This is pretty much standard in the industry for all
professional consoles and audio gear.
• Frequency response curves: microphones, inputs/outputs of recorders, Hertz, phase, pitch.
 Frequency Response describes the range of frequencies or musical tones a component
can reproduce. Frequency response measures if and how well a particular audio
component reproduces all of these audible frequencies and if it makes any changes to
the signal on the way through
• Sourcing recording equipment: selecting, misuse of equipment.
 Capturing audio with a recorder not only lets you remember life's small details, but
improves factual precision–laying the groundwork for accuracy and efficiency in
professional, academic, and personal contexts.
• Connectors and cables: standard/mini monw/stereo mini jack male/female plug/socket
XLR 3 pin male/female plug/socket connectors, RCA/phono male/female plug/socket.
 Cables are often designed into devices or created with a specific end-use in mind and
there is a wide variety in the types of electronics cabling. Connectors are used where
wire lines need to be attached or disconnected. Just like cables, connectors are used in
a lot of electronic equipment.
• Connecting procedures for sound equipment for recording: recording in mono/stereo,
monitoring sound recording levels, (on) headphones, loudspeakers, (feedback) basic mono,
basic stereo, 3.1, 5.1, 7.1.

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  Stereo Recording. If you record in mono, that means you use one microphone at a
time on one channel. If you record in stereo, you're using two microphones recorded
to two different channels. Vocals and any direct-in instrument (ex. bass, electric
guitar, keyboard) are recorded in mono
Submission Deadline: Monday 12th September