Exemplar candidate work -- Introduction OCR has produced these simulated candidate style answers to support teachers in interpreting the assessment criteria for the new Creative iMedia specifications and to bridge the gap between new specification release and availability of exemplar candidate work. This content has been produced by senior OCR examiners, with the input of Chairs of Examiners, to illustrate how the sample assessment questions might be answered and provide some commentary on what factors contribute to an overall pass. The candidate style answers are not written in a way that is intended to replicate student work but to demonstrate what a “good” or “excellent” response might include, supported by examiner commentary and conclusions. As these responses have not been through full moderation and do not replicate student work, they have not been graded and are instead, banded “good” or “excellent” to give an indication of the level of each response. Please note that this resource is provided for advice and guidance only and does not in any way constitute an indication of the pass/fail boundary or endorsed answers. Learning outcome and related assessment criteria Comments 1 Exploration Good (covers key points but little detail) 2 Planning Good 3 Creating the final work Excellent 4 Review/evaluation Good

Digital media skills for asset production

Exploration of digital media (Task 1) Assessment Criteria  Investigate a range of uses and sectors in which digital media is used  Research target platforms and methods of broadcasting/distribution  Investigate the capabilities/limitations of software applications for editing and repurposing digital media files  Identify the properties/limitations of file formats for audio  Identify the properties/limitations of file formats for still images  Identify the properties/limitations of file formats for moving images  Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a range of compressed file formats

Uses and sectors for digital media Sectors – media is used in:  Radio (audio products only)  Television (any format)  Press/Journalism (any format)  Print/publishing (still images only)  Computer games (any format) Uses of media  Advertisements (a big market always needed more)  Entertainment  Providing information  Websites (constantly being developed and enhanced)

Target platforms for distribution These include personal and business use  Personal computer  Mobile telephone  MP3/MP4 player  iPad, Kindle and other book readers  Radio (broadcast, Dab and internet)  Television  PDA

Methods of distribution  Digital broadcast (radio/television)  Website use and web downloads   Social networking eg facebook  CD/DVD  iTunes  YouTube

Print distribution For example - newspapers, magazines  Digital media can be used in the production of the print product (but only still images, not sound or video)  This means that the original photographs for example, might need to be modified or repurposed for different uses and applications

Capabilities of audio software Software applicationCharacteristics and Capabilities Limitations AudacityBasic audio track editing Mono/stereo Free download A bit clunky when combining multiple tracks SoundboothBasic sound editing, easy to use with user friendly interface Not many advanced editing tools for multiple track authoring GaragebandEasy to use, lots of built in libraries and effects Apple Mac only

Capabilities of image software Software applicationCharacteristics and Capabilities Limitations PhotoshopProfessional level image editing software, advanced tools and multiple layers for creative graphics None in CS versions FireworksOriginally Macromedia image editing application, now Adobe. Aimed at web and animation graphics work More focussed on web and animation use than Photoshop iPhotoBasic image editing and exporting in different formats Apple Mac only. Limited tools and techniques available

Capabilities of video software Software applicationCharacteristics and Capabilities Limitations Movie MakerBasic audio and video editing PC only Few advanced tools and effects Premiere ElementsWider range of tools than Movie Maker. Easy to use and less complex than Premiere Pro Aimed at home users, not as powerful as Premiere Pro iMovieGood range of tools and effects Apple Mac only

Properties/limitations audio formats File formatCharacteristics and Properties Compressed? MP3Popular, widely used format for distributing music on portable players Yes WavLarge files without loss of quality No Ogg VorbisSimilar to MP3 but slightly better performance. Not widely supported Yes

Properties/limitations of image formats File formatCharacteristics and PropertiesCompressed? TiffHigh quality format for print and archiving No JpegCommonly used and supported by all devices, software and web Yes PSDProprietary format for Adobe software applications No PNGAlternative to jpg for web useYes GIFLimited colours, commonly used for web Yes BMPBitmap format developed by MicrosoftNo

Properties/limitations video formats File formatCharacteristics and Properties Compressed Y/N? Limitations? WMVWindows media video format for playback on computer Yes File size and playback Mpeg-1, Mpeg-2 Mpeg-4 Compressed format for distribution of good quality/small file size video Yes Picture quality limitation with high compression MovApple QuickTime movie format Yes Requires QuickTime FLVFlash video for any moving image product including animation Yes Playback support needed

Compressed/uncompressed file formats  Uncompressed file formats contain the full quality of the original work. They are much bigger file sizes and best used for archiving and storage as the masters  Compressed file formats discard some information so the quality is not as good. The benefit is that file sizes are smaller so better for distribution and storage on target platforms

Planning (Task 2) Assessment Criteria  Identify client requirements based on their brief to include the target audience  Identify appropriate equipment and software for audio, still image and moving image asset editing  Identify appropriate file types and compressed/uncompressed formats for audio, still image and moving image assets in line with the brief  Produce a work plan for the repurposing of an audio, still image and moving image files; to include, workflow timescales resources needed  Identify any legal issues for all assets to be used, whether sourced or created.

Client requirements  I have been supplied with three files (audio, still image and moving image). These are taken from the archive library and must be repurposed for a different platform.  The audio file must be trimmed to 6 seconds and converted to a mp3 file  The still image must be converted from TIFF to Jpeg at 600 pixels wide  The moving image file must be trimmed to 10 seconds and converted from avi to wmv

Identify appropriate equipment I will use a computer with the following software applications:  Audacity – for editing the audio file  Photoshop – for editing the still image  Movie Maker – for editing the moving image file I am using these because each application is dedicated to each type of digital media file

Identify appropriate file types and formats Original fileOutput fileProperties Audio: Wav file format 15 seconds Mp3 file formatTrimmed to 6 seconds Still image: Tiff file 3000x4000 pixels Jpg file600 pixels wide at 72dpi for web use Moving image: Avi file 15 seconds Wmv fileTrimmed to 10 seconds

Work plan ActivityDurationWhen?Where?Resources? Load digital media assets 15 minsWednesdayEdit suite Computer Edit and export audio file 20 minsWednesdayEdit suite Computer & Audacity Edit and save still image 20 minsThursdayEdit suite Computer & Photoshop Edit and export moving image 30 minsThursdayEdit suite Computer & Movie Maker Check/test final work 30 minsFridayEdit suite Computer Supply and review with client 15 minsFridayOfficeMemory stick with files

Workflow - audio  Open Audacity software  Import audio file  Listen to audio track  Identify part of file to cut out  Trim to required length  Check length  Export as mp3

Workflow – still image  Open Photoshop  Import image file  Check properties (pixel dimensions and dpi resolution)  Use crop tool to change pixel dimensions and dpi  Check new properties  Save as jpeg

Workflow – moving image  Open Movie Maker  Create new project & import video file  Watch/listen to video clip  Identify part of file to cut out  Split the clip and delete unwanted parts  Check length on timeline, render and preview/playback  Publish as wmv file

Legal and ethical issues  The files were supplied by the client who will deal with any copyright issues  I will check to make sure that the content of each file supplied does not break any laws eg violence, dangerous driving etc.  I will also review each file to see if there will be any ethical issues such as discrimination, the environment or anything that is immoral  If so I will discuss this with the client before starting my work

Edit and test media files (Task 3) Assessment Criteria  Use identified software applications to edit, repurpose and save files in planned formats to meet client requirements from a supplied audio file still image file moving image file  Save and export the files in line with the plan  Create a list to include file names, types and properties of edited files  Develop and use a basic test plan to test the files  Correct any identified faults and apply improvement based on the test plan

Edit and repurpose audio file

Audio file trimmed to 6 secs

Edit and repurpose still image

Cropped to 600 x 400px

Edit and repurpose moving image file

Trimmed to 10 seconds

Save and export

Files exported and their properties Original fileOutput filenameProperties Audio: Wav file format 15 seconds Audio.mp3MP3 file Trimmed to 6 seconds Still image: Tiff file 2000x3000 pixels Moon eclipse.jpgJpeg file 600 x 400 px at 72dpi for web use Moving image: Avi file 16 seconds Woodpecker video.wmvWmv file Trimmed to 10 seconds

Test plans Test/checkPass/FailResult Audio file duration6 seconds +/- 0.5s6.0 seconds Audio file formatMust be mp3 Audio file playbackPlayback in media player Still image size600 x 400px Still image resolution72dpi Suitable for web Still image file formatMust be jpeg file Video duration10 seconds +/-0.5s 10.0 seconds Video formatMust be wmv file Video playbackPlayback in media player See screenshot

Checking still image size

Testing video playback

Correcting faults and making improvements  I did not find any faults as part of the testing although I did notice the image file was cropped wrong at first. This is because I cropped it to 600 x 400pixels but still at 300dpi. I corrected this to 72dpi before saving the jpeg file

Review (Task 4) Assessment Criteria  Critically review the finished products with the client and record feedback  Describe the quality of the finished products  Explain the fitness for purpose of the finished products  Identify parameters and constraints that influenced decisions made  Produce accurate written records of relevant information about assets obtained such as source ownership, any restrictions on use where they are located, filenames given

Critically review the finished product with the client  Each file meets the client requirements as shown in the testing  The audio file volume is good and can be heard clearly  The still image is a little bit blurry but that is not my problem. The client knows this but doesn’t have a better picture  The video shows the bird clearly but more footage would be useful

What areas would you improve and why?  The audio file volume level could be adjusted – it is not quite loud enough and needs more gain applied  The still image needs sharpening to remove some of the blurriness  The video would benefit from changes to the audio track – maybe remove what is there and replace with a natural sound or some music

Why is your finished product fit for the purpose you created it for  Because the properties and file format of each file exactly match what was asked for.  The sound file is 6.00 seconds and the video is seconds  The still image is saved at 72dpi so it is suitable for use on the client website

Parameters and constraints that influenced decisions  Limited choice of video editing software. I was going to use Premiere Elements but it kept crashing. So I used Movie Maker instead.  Originally I didn’t have the lame decoder plug in for Audacity. This was installed by somebody else so that I could export it as mp3 format. This meant that it took a bit longer to do.

Assets used  The client supplied me with the original files and informed me that there are no restrictions on their use  The copyright for each file is held by my client