Hello blog, how’s it going? It’s about to be spring break for me and I’m going in a trip with my grandparents and the rest of my family tomorrow which I’m looking forward to :)) While I could just sit and talk about how much of a whirlwind these past couple of weeks have been and will continue to be, I am here to discuss something much more important: MY CCR!!
Truthfully, I haven’t begun to try to organize myself in regards to my CCR, as my main focus with the project as been the documentary aspect. When looking back on last years CCR experience, I definitely have some learned notions about what to do and not to do, specifically regarding time management.
This year, I want to start earlier so that it can serve as a less stressful form of reflection and summary of how the project experience went, which I think will be easier now that this years Critical Reflection isn't in the form of two videos, but of an 1000 word essay. While that is a pretty long essay, I feel like this new format will allow me respond to the 4 questions in a more direct and less stressful way, as last year not only did I have to answer the questions thoughtfully but also devote time to brainstorming, planning, producing, and editing the two videos. While that was fun, I want to devote as much time as possible to the documentary and the other two aspects of the project (social media and print), so the new medium of an essay is much more favorable!
4 Questions
Before getting into this year's questions, I want to compare from last year's questions, being that I felt confident in my responses (click here for my AS Level CCR's) and might undergo the same process to answering the new 4 questions. Here they are:
- How does your product use or challenge conventions?
- How does your product represent social groups or issues?
- How did your production skills develop throughout the project?
- How did you integrate technologies- hardware, software, and online- in this project?
There are some differences and similarities in the questions, with the current questions I have to answer being:
- How did your research inform your products and the way they use or challenge conventions?
- How do your products engage with the audience?
- How did elements of production work together to create a sense of "branding"?
- How do your products represent social groups or issues?
Here are my notes for these questions that I will elaborate on in this blog post:
The bolded questions are the ones that will most likely require a lot of gathering of the same information to last year's questions, such as analyzing the TA and describing how specific choices were made to specifically call to their attention and make the content the most relatable/digestible for them. That's one example, being that to make any piece of media there are general outlined things that remain the same. Being that many of the questions revolve around the same topics, I will probably abide by the same frame of steps (even though last year's process felt more like a rushed miracle than organized thoughts) to answer these new set of questions. If you want to read more about my process with the CCR last year, click here.
The structure of the CCR is pretty simple, including:
- Introduction: Thesis on the main idea/ theme conveyed through the project.
- Body paragraph: Answering 4 questions (w/ evidence + multimedia posts + link to previous blog posts)
- Conclusion- Quick wrap up that offers a new point complementary/ maintained by the overall essay.
(ex: I did a CCR as this year's Midterm to my group documentary Does This Make You Uncomfortable?
Click here to check it out)
Focus- Dissecting and Analyzing each Question
- How did your research inform your products and the way you use or challenge conventions?
The main focus on this question revolves around research and genre. I will have to include research done towards specific production techniques/ approaches regarding my genre, where I will have to specify my genre's conventions, and research regarding specific productions viewed. Once that's established, I will indicate how that process of research mended with the ideas Sofia and I had for our own production in that genre, and dissect what specific decisions we made and why regarding sticking to the "usual" for our genre or diverging and doing something else. This segues into a discussion of the target audience, as specific choices are made for them specifically as well, segueing into question 2:
2. How do your products engage with the audience?
Here, a description of the TA (specifically listing age range, gender, and shared interests) is necessary, with dissection and analyzing how specific production choices tend to the TA group. Last year, my project relied heavily on research regarding TA, something I want to have more attention for this project. Additionally, focus on how the other two products (social media + print aspect) are made to best compliment the TA's style/ current state of consumption will also be highlighted.
3. How do the elements of your production work together to create a sense of branding?
Here, the focus is on the intended brand for the product and how we developed specific production choices to build up that brand. Our brand is chosen for reasons such as TA also considering genre, with most aspects tying into each other in terms of production choices. In this question, critiques regarding what could've been done to better develop the intended brand is also a requirement, indicating acknowledgment and self-assessment of problems/ solutions.
4. How do your products represent social groups or issues?
This question focuses on the specific examples of representation made in our production regarding groups, events, and ideas. Regarding our product, we make representations about specific age groups/ the current state of society in terms of social connection. Our whole piece is based on trying to shine light on a specific part of our reality that we wish was more embraced, being the connection that derives from places such as the local communities we focus each episode of the docu-series on. We will have to get into great detail with this question, with included evidence as to why we made specific representations (ex: psychological interview). Additionally, describing if we were successful in making our representation is also a part of the question.
Overall, each question requires reference to research and attention-to-detail on why we make the choices we do regarding production elements for all of our different products, with analysis of the questions allowing me to prepare for my individual response and organize anything else I might need to be prepared to support Sofia and I's production choices.
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