INTI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGES

BA (HONS) MASS COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

CGD4203: MEDIA PROJECT
COURSEWORK: AUGUST 2018 SESSION

Task 1 pass or fail

Following the template below, write a ONE page pre-proposal detailing your idea for a
project. This is a formative assignment, and will form the basis for your first supervision.

Please consider carefully how you can use this project to develop a portfolio to show an
employer. Think carefully about where you would like to work and whether this is an appropriate
portfolio idea.

For example, what would be appropriate if you want to work in event management,
broadcasting or advertising? Consider how you can demonstrate creative skills and good
time management through this project. Remember this is a double module and it will carry on
into the next semester so it must stretch you academically and consolidate or develop new
practical skills.

Please submit your work using the following template:

Your Name:

Your Client:

Title of project:

Group/Individual Work:

List the other members of the group (if applicable):

One paragraph on why you want work with this client:

Which communication/publishing technologies will you use? (e.g. Video based, Desktop
Publishing, Web, Animation, etc – provide list of softwares you plan to use as well)

One paragraph on why you want to develop your skills in this area:

(Students can create an INTI project(s) for example a media pack to advertise the programme,
newsletter, social media campaign, short video, fliers, podcasts etc. but a group larger than 3
people is NOT allowed).

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

Assignment 1: Project Proposal weighted at 10%

The first stage in gaining contract work from a client in a real-life scenario is always going to be
the submission of a professional proposal. The proposal should accurately meet the client’s
needs and have a clear delivery plan.

The proposal should include the focus (aims and objectives) and planned schedule for your
forthcoming project.

Marks will be awarded for vision, scope and presentation of the copy. The proposal
should be between 1800-2000 words.

(Costing will not form part of the proposal, but timing and planning will be carefully scrutinized).

Students should submit an individual proposal even if they are working in a group.
Naturally the proposals will be similar, but there should be differences, as we expect students to
have different personal goals.

The proposal will give your supervisor a better idea of your plans and helps her/him advise you
on the achievability of your project. Once written, the proposal acts as a restraint and a guide
during the development of the project.

It’s expected that your plans will change and develop as the project progresses, but will need to
ensure that any changes are justifiable and manageable. You should discuss major changes
with your supervisor and your client.

Proposal Guidelines

Your proposal should include the following:

 Your name, the date of writing and the email address of an account you use regularly.
 The title of your project
 Details of your external client and the anticipated audience or customer for your product.
 A description of the client’s needs and your initial proposed response.
o Some analysis of the client’s needs, leading to a discussion of the aims and
objectives of the project i.e. what you intend and what the end product will be.
 Initial thoughts on comparative analysis. For example:
o How aware are you of work which is similar to what you propose?
o Where can you find such examples?
o What can you learn from looking at such examples?
o This initial basic analysis will be developed more fully in the second assignment,
‘The Research Portfolio and Media Sample’
 How you intend to achieve your aims and objectives. For example:
o Are you going to develop new software skills in Adobe Dreamweaver /
Photoshop / InDesign / Premiere or other programmes?
o Will you apply communication skills in dealing with clients?
o Will you develop time management skills in planning and organisational
management?

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

  A project schedule – what you aim to achieve week by week. Don’t forget to build some
time for revisions and changes.
 Why do you feel your particular project is sufficiently challenging for a third year
assessment?

Presentation:

 It is expected that the proposal will be a richly formatted document, containing images,
tables, graphs etc.
 Care should be taken to present the proposal in a neat, attractive and professional way.

Key points:

1. You must show analysis of the client’s needs.

2. You must show clear awareness of the target audience.
3. You must show clarity about the aims of objectives of the project
4. There should be seeds of the comparative analysis which will be developed later.
5. The proposal should show accurate and detailed time management skills.
6. The proposal should be ambitious. You should demonstrate how the project will be
challenging and how it will advance your professional skills

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

Assignment 2: Research Portfolio, Quality Statements with Media Sample and Plan
weighted at 25%

Research Portfolio, Quality Statements, Media Sample and Revised Production Plan.

In this final year project, which is geared towards the production of material designed to help
you advance your career, there must be serious consideration of quality. In this phase of the
project, you will firm up and focus your ideas, through a process of research and analysis
of media products which have similar goals and aims as your own.

This research and analysis must be systematic and when you have a set of results, you will
produce a set of quality statements derived from your analysis. These statements are
intended to bring significant enhancements to your initial plan.

At the end of this process, you will produce a short media sample, made according to the
values identified in your quality statements.

For those students working in a group, it is expected that the depth of engagement with this
process will benefit significantly from the participation of the group members. As we will look for
increased quantity and quality in the final product of your group work, we will look for increased
detail in this phase of your work.

1) The Research Portfolio.

The research portfolio exercise is designed to test your ideas against at least 15 examples of
work in your chosen field and medium. Your evaluation should be systematically documented
and should lead, through analysis, to the production of a set of quality statements.

Examples of research might be:

If you are looking to redesign printed publicity material for a golf club, you should find clubs
which are successful and look carefully, not only at the material they produce, but at the ethos
that’s embedded in the material, through the use of language, images, colour and formats. You
may look beyond golf clubs, to examine for example, how other outdoor sports engage young
people, if your plan includes material aimed at that target audience. Your quality statements will
express your discoveries. Among your statements, for example, you may decide on the
importance of presenting the health and mental well-being advantages of an outdoor sport for
young people.

If you plan a video about a society at UH, you will look for examples online of similar societies,
in other Universities, promoting themselves via the web, or perhaps more specifically on
YouTube and Vimeo. Your scope need not specifically be the UK, or the particular society you
are working for. What works with the videos you have found? Is there a successful mise-en-
scene in which they have set their interviews? What tone do they use? Do they have a
particularly impressive sequence showcasing food, or dance? How do they show festivals? Your
quality statements might include your realisation that the video should be colourful and fast
paced.

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

If you plan a website for a restaurant, you should look closely at the sites of successful venues
and record the style, use of images, video and animation as well as using formal tools such as a
usability analysis. How big is the website, what is the focus? How well is the visitor experience
presented? Are there personal cameos of the manager, the owner, the head chef? Is the history
of the establishment presented? Your quality statements might, for example, show that you
have decided to focus on the quality of the food and ingredients and you may decide to embed
video in the site showing selection and preparation in the kitchen.

It’s likely that you will record your research in tabular form, showing sources/URLs, your
initial reaction and responses, a more considered response based on formal or professional
criteria*, and a summary of how this particular source has meaning and influence for
your project. Such meaning and influence may be positive or negative.

For example, you may look at a product website which uses very small images and you may
record a negative response to this, which in your quality statements may result in a resolution to
use large images throughout your site.

*Formal and professional criteria should be appropriate to the medium you are working with.

 For a website, there are a number of usability methods you may use, taking into
account the various devices with which the user may access your site.
 For video, there should be some reference to the mise-en-scene, camera position and
movement, the pace, the tone, the audio, non-diagetic sound etc. (See ‘The Language of
Moving Images’ in Teaching Resources/Video).
 For the printed page, there are a number of graphical evaluations you can use. Perhaps
the most effective is to look at the principles of Proximity, Alignment, Repetition and
Contrast as described in the Non-Designers Design Book (Available for download from
Teaching Resources/Print).

The Research Portfolio should be a word-processed document which catalogues your

research in a systematic way, as described above. If you are working in a group, we expect
members to hand in the same research table and analyses, but we expect each person to write
their own introduction which explains their understanding of the direction which the group has
taken. We do not expect exact copies to be uploaded by each person.

2) Quality Statements

The 10 quality statements will be expressions of what you have decided to apply from the
research process. Each statement should be no longer than 60 words. The statements
should express what you as an individual or as a group consider as markers of success
for the product you are planning to complete. The statements may include positive and negative
expressions such as:

My catalogue for a school uniform company in Malaysia, will include images of

relaxed and smiling children as I have seen such images used effectively on
the website of Marks and Spencer, Debenhams and other leading retailers in
the UK. I will avoid the formalised and stiff images which are used on many
Malaysian sites.

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

 Interviews for our video for the UH Nigerian Society will have professional
production values. They will be well lit, using the professional LED lighting kit.
The DSLR camera will be placed on a tripod and audio will be recorded using
the tie clip microphones. At all times, we will reject grainy and shaky video.

The ten quality statements should be no longer than 60 words each (10 x 60 words). They
should be written in a word-processed document and uploaded by each person. Those working
in a group may upload exactly the same document.

3) Media Sample

Having arrived at ten clear statements about the quality of your work, your job is now to produce
a small sample which embeds these qualities.

 For video, this will be at least one minute of quality footage.

 For a website, this will be a minimum of a front page, with four linked pages.
 For printed material, this will be a minimum of four printed pages, which may include
spreads.

If you are planning mixed media, you may negotiate the sample size with your supervisor.

The media sample to be included in the same word document or in a separate PDF document,
or a link may be provided to a web address or a video URL (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.). For those
engaged in group work, a sample or a link should be uploaded by each individual, although
clearly this will be for the same work in each case.

4) Revised Production Plan

Taking into account your deeper understanding of the kind of quality which approaches a
professional standard, you should produce a simple Gantt chart for the work you plan
towards completion of your media product.

The chart may show a resolution of week by week, it does not have to show day by day. You
may use online services or free software to produce your chart. Each element of the
production work should be shown on the chart.

Those working in a group must show each individuals tasks on the chart.

The Gantt chart should be formatted from one of the online or software Gantt systems as a
PDF. The resolution of the chart can simply be week-by-week tasks, dated from the start of
January, up to the final submission date.

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

Assignment 3. Final Product weighted at 50%

Your hand-in will depend on the nature of your final product.

Web Design - A simple document containing the URL of your WordPress site should be
submitted. The URL must be accurate and all links to internal and external sites must be tested
carefully. Image files should be properly compressed, scaled and displayed. Marks will be
deducted for inaccurate links or missing assets.

Print Design - At least eight pages of your final work must be mounted on card for the
submission. A1 card should be used. The work should be neatly mounted. You should be
aware that eight A4 pages will not fit neatly on two pieces of A1 card. You may shrink the pages
to no less than 90 % and then print and mount them. Marks will be deducted for sloppy
presentation. The InDesign INDD file, plus a PDF file of the work must be submitted together
during submission. The mounted card should be handed to the supervisor.

Video - The final videos should be exported in H264 format, in progressive mode,
i.e. 1080p or 720p if you have been working in HD, or 576p or 480p if you are working with
SD/smaller scale videos designed for upload to the web. You must seek support from your
supervisor or the media technician.

Students who plan mixed media submissions should negotiate the balance and scale of their
hand-in materials with the module leader ahead of time.

Key Points.

1. The product should demonstrate that you have built upon and integrated technical skills
which you acquired at Levels 4 and Level 5.
2. The product should demonstrate that you have responded to and solved a set of
professional/commercial requirements.
3. The product should be creative/innovative.
4. The product should show that you are developing expertise in a specialised area within
New Media Publishing.
5. The product should be an adequate result of six months of self-directed work; three
months in research and planning and three months in production.
6. As part of your development, you arrived at a set of quality statements. Does your work
live up to the targets you set for yourself?

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

Assignment 4 The Report weighted at 15%

The Report.

Introduction.

One of the most important transferrable skills needed in professional life is the ability to honestly
reflect upon and evaluate our actions and our output. It is this ability that helps us to grow in
confidence, to be reliable, productive and ultimately successful in the workplace. The final
assignment in this module develops this important skill.

The report asks you to give a summary overview of:

1. The steps you took to complete your project.

2. Your own review of your work in relation to the learning outcomes.
3. Your evaluation of the final product, including its suitability for purpose and future plans
and deployment.

The report should consist of around 2,500 words.

(The appendix contents do not count towards this word-count).

This is a personal and individual assessment, although we expect that some reflection and evaluation,
together with appendix items, will be shared with team-mates for those working in a group.

Assessment Criteria.

Quality reflective writing will be consistent and genuine – real situations will be discussed which
presented the writer with real concerns and required solid consideration. The best presentations
will move from the description of experiences that are essentially personal (subjective) to
objective analyses of their value in terms of learning outcomes. Ultimately, they will show an
argument for a particular course of action when the situation is encountered again.

Poor quality reflective texts will seem contrived and give the impression of simply striving to fill
up the allotted space. Such texts may lack focus or may zero-in on situations that present little
opportunity for discussion, analysis and learning. Poor quality texts will perhaps include
judgements on others, or attribute particular motives to other players in the situation. The
argument for a course of action is likely to be based upon generalizations or simple emotional
responses.

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

Details Of The Report

The report should summarise the various stages of the project and provide appropriate
paperwork and documentation in the form of an appendix. (See below for definition of the appendix)

 Initial research and ideas development. What were you trying to achieve? Who was the
intended target audience?
 Client identification, profile and correspondence with the client.
 Initial research and definition of the proposal.
 Broader research, comparative analysis and quality definitions. What inspirational ideas
or evidence of good (or bad!) practice did you find?
 Overview of the general progress of the project, highlighting difficulties met and
overcome/circumvented and changes made to initial plans. Any major changes to the
original proposal should be justified.
 A summary evaluation of the completed product. What is the response of the client and
target audience? Did you have a final client meeting? Did you conduct a survey or
questionnaire, including online and offline audiences? What professional standards and
tools can be applied to your finished product?
 What future plans are there for the product? Will the product be promoted? Will you take
this forward in your life after graduation? Will the client be developing this further?
 Your personal development and understanding, including reflections on the aims and
learning outcomes of the module. You should address questions like these below, with
honesty and integrity.

o How well have you developed your understanding of what is required to be

successful in working on a real-life project?
o How well have you developed independent working practices, including discipline
and time management?
o To what extent have you built upon your understanding and skills acquired at
level 4 and 5?
o How well did you define the project and keep clear documentation as you
progressed?
o How well did you develop a professional relationship with the client and look for
clarification, feedback and support?
o How has your confidence developed in your chosen field of expertise?
o How innovative, creative and successful have you been? How might you have
improved the product? How well does it do the job you designed it to do?

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018

The Appendix

The appendix should give detailed evidence of the various stages and processes of the
project. Looking at this evidence will give crucial insights which will contribute towards the
grading of your work. Electronic versions of documents and/or clear scanned/photographed
documents are fine.

Examples of development versions of your product can consist of screenshots in Jpeg format,
or PDF versions of DTP work. For students working with video, shot lists and descriptions of raw
footage are important.

Please note that the material in the appendix does not count towards the word-count of the
report. There is no specific word-count for the appendix, but the degree of detail is important.
It should be a comprehensive record.

 All documentation supportive of the proposal, including any results of your investigation
of both client and user needs. This should include profile information on the client (type
of business etc.) and on a typical user of the proposed product.
 Any documents relating to your comparative analysis.
 Evidence of planning should include:
o For Websites, a site-map, showing the structure of the planned website, and an
indication of the page design (a wireframe model).
o For Video, storyboards/script shooting plans etc.
o For DTP, developing versions of your document (as PDFs), blueprints and any
other development plans.
o For Animations, a storyboard and a wireframe model.

 Notes made from any meetings with your client and, if appropriate, other people involved
in the process (e.g. a printer or other professionals).
 The results of any interviews you may have carried out with target audience members
and the interview schedule used. You may have held interviews and used
questionnaires during the needs analysis and also during evaluation.
 The results of any questionnaires you may have used and a copy of the questionnaire or
user/viewer/client comments.
 Notes from any brainstorming sessions.
 Notes from tutorial sessions.
 Anything else which sheds light on the process of the project.

CGD4203 | Media Project | August 2018