Media Studies Department

Cambridge Technicals Level 3 - Diploma in Digital Media

Pathway: Moving image and audio production

Course booklet 2018-20

NAME: ______________________________________
 Welcome to the Diploma in Digital Media!

Cambridge Technicals are vocational qualifications designed with the

workplace in mind and provide a high-quality alternative to A Levels.

Vocational education is not just about results, it’s about educating people in
the knowledge and skills required for employment and for the community as
a whole. It’s also about developing the behaviours and attributes needed to
progress and succeed in education and in work.

Moving Image & Audio Production pathway

From the exam board:

“For this pathway we have worked with a range of small and medium sized
organisations such as: Offshoot Foundation, Gabrielle Media, Herbert Art Gallery and
ClearSilver to ensure that we are offering the skills, knowledge and understanding
that students need to succeed in the sector, and are recognised for creative flair
and production skills and techniques in creating audio and moving image media
products. This pathway will allow your students to gain employment in roles such as
Runners, Assistant Camera Operator, Assistant Lighting Camera Person, DPO
Consultant, Computer Generated Imagery Artist, Assistant Broadcaster, Audio
Mixers, Production Assistant, Promoters; Festivals and Live Music Events.”

We hope this will be a fantastic, inspiring course that will provide you with
loads of skills and confidence to go for a career in the media.

The Acland Burghley Media Department

Ms Ogunlabi (on maternity leave) – head of department
Mr Rosen [email protected]
Ms Platman [email protected]
 Units of study

This booklet will give you an

overview of the course. You will
get further booklets for each
unit.

The course is split into units that

will mostly be taught
SYNOPOTICALLY. This means
that knowledge you gain in
one will help with another, so
there will be crossover that will
help the units to naturally flow
together. As you can see from the types of units we have chosen to do, one
project will cover several units.

Below is a summary of all the units we will be studying:

Unit Unit title Guided Exam or

no. learning coursework?
hours
1 Media products and audiences 90 Exam
2 Pre-production and planning 90 Exam
3 Create a media product 60 Coursework
5 TV and short film 60 Coursework
6 Social media and globalisation 60 Exam
15 Create audio-visual promos 60 Coursework
16 The creation and use of sound in media 60 Coursework
17 Visual and special effects 60 Coursework
18 Cinematography 60 Coursework
21 Plan and deliver a pitch for a media product 30 Coursework
22 Scripting for media products 30 Coursework
23 Create a personal media profile 30 Coursework
24 Cross media industry awareness 30 Coursework
Unit Unit title Aim and purpose of unit
no.
1 Media products All media institutions work to create products that meet the
and audiences needs of specific target audiences. The aim of this unit is for
students to develop their understanding of how different media
institutions operate in order to create products that will appeal
to specific target audiences. Students will learn about the
different ownership models within media industries, and they will
learn how to analyse different media products within the sector
in order to understand the fundamentals of how meaning is
created for audiences. Students will learn about how audiences
are categorised, researched and targeted by media producers.
They will also learn about how media institutions distribute and
advertise their products to audiences.
2 Pre-production This unit forms the foundation of the course. The knowledge and
and planning understanding developed in this unit is transferable to a number
of other units. By completing this unit, students will understand
the pre-production process the creative media industry follows
when creating a product. They will learn how to carry out
research in the planning stage of a media production and
about the various acts of legislation that need to be considered.
Students will learn about the constraints that need to be
considered when planning a new media production, including
timescales and resources. They will understand how to create
preproduction documents in relation to client requirements and
how to plan projects to meet these needs.
3 Create a media Media products have a range of different purposes. Whether it
product is to advertise and promote a product or service, inform an
audience of a cause or engage and entertain an audience.
The aim of this unit is for your students to develop knowledge
and understanding of the production processes of producing a
media product from one of the following:
• Print-based product
• Audio-visual product
• Audio product.
Students will apply their learning gained in Units 1 and 2 to plan
and produce a media product. They will complete planning
materials to take forward in the production and post–
production stages of an intended media product.
Students will plan, produce and edit original content for their
intended product. By completing this unit, students will have the
skills to:
• Create a proposal to meet a client brief
• Produce planning materials
• Create and manage original content for the product
• Apply editing techniques.
5 TV and short film TV and film are two of the biggest media industries in the world.
To work in these industries students will need to understand all
aspects of the production process. By completing this unit,
students will apply their knowledge of pre-production to
generate materials for a short film or TV programme. This will not
only allow them to build on skills of producing a proposal,
storyboarding and scripting but will also give them the
opportunity to work as part of a team and specialise in a
particular production role. Students will edit footage in post-
production and have the opportunity to apply special and
visual effects in order to create a short film or TV programme for
 a specific purpose and audience. They will then go through the
process of presenting their work as a screen test to a focus
group or specific audience. Students will evaluate their
production through analysis of feedback which will give them
the opportunity to reflect on their and identify areas for
development and improvement.
6 Social media Social media has revolutionised the way in which people
and connect and we can interact in an instant with someone on the
globalisation other side of the world. In terms of media production, social
media has also fundamentally changed the way in which
media institutions and creative professionals reach and interact
with target audiences who are now global. The aim of this unit is
to enable students to understand the ways in which online
technologies and social media products have created a
globalised, connected society and how such tools are used by
media producers. As part of this, students will evaluate the
positive and negative impacts of social media on businesses,
individual users and producers. They will also learn about issues
surrounding censorship and regulation of social media, and the
impact this has on media production and distribution. Students
will fully investigate how media producers use contemporary
social media to generate ideas, fund and plan projects
with other professionals and how social media is used
commercially to create awareness and advertise products to
global audiences.
15 Create audio- Audio-visual promotion plays an important part in our day-to-
visual promos day lives. Before new products are launched, companies rely
on these promotions to gain interest in a new product or even
to relaunch an old product. Getting the promo right can have a
significant impact on the interest of a product or service and
the business. By completing this unit your students will
understand audio-visual promos in terms of their use and how
audiences are targeted and how existing audio- visual promos
are constructed. Students will be able to take a brief and from
this be able to generate ideas and plans for an original audio-
visual promo, including understanding the legal, moral and
ethical framework that they would work under in producing
such a promo. They will be able to produce material for an
audio-visual promo, carry out post-production processes to
create the audio-visual promo, gain feedback to justify any
decisions that are made and ensure the final promo meets the
needs of the brief and matches the target audience
16 The creation and Sound is now an important part of most media products, be this
use of sound in the actual dialogue of a production or music, effects or
media atmospheric sounds. The effective use of sound can change the
mood and feel of media productions. Sound is now found in the
majority of media products from film and television through to
interactive media and computer games. By completing this
unit, students will understand the sound elements used in media
products and how they are produced. Students will be able to
develop ideas for, and plan the production of, a soundtrack
containing a range of sound elements. They will gain some
practical skills by recording and editing sound elements for use
in the production of a final soundtrack.
17 Visual and Visual and special effects are becoming more prevalent in TV
special effects and film and are being used to enhance story and plot. By
completing this unit, students will understand visual and special
 effect techniques, their application and use in film and TV in
both the production process and in digital post-production.
Students will develop ideas and produce pre-production
material for a sequence containing three different visual effects
and one special effect that is safe to use. They'll produce the
footage to contain the effects and edit the final sequence.
18 Cinematography Cinematography is both an artistic and technical discipline that
has a significant impact on the meaning and aesthetics of a
moving image product. Use of artistic lighting techniques and
creative use of the camera are therefore vital if a television or
film production is going to be successful and memorable. By
completing this unit, students will learn how to use digital video
cameras and DSLR (video) in manual mode. Also students will
explore the effect of light entering the camera and how to light
different types of shots for studio and location. They will be able
to create moving image test shots to potentially show the
effectiveness of different exposures, frame rates, depth of field
and lighting configurations. Students will also use post-
production techniques to enhance meaning.
21 Plan and deliver A media product does not simply exist in a vacuum. There is
a pitch for a much work to be done before the product is finally consumed
media product by an audience. Like most commercial products, a media
product starts life as an idea in the mind of its creator or creators
who then have to sell the idea to those who have the means to
produce it. In order to convince the producers that it is a good
idea, the creator(s) have to show what the end product might
look/sound like and convince them that there is a unique selling
point to attract a particular audience. Students will choose to
focus on either print, audio, or audio-visual media. By
completing this unit they'll be able to generate ideas for their
own media product based on a client brief, pitch their ideas to
a client, and be able to respond to feedback to prepare their
idea for pre-production.
22 Scripting for Scripts are an integral part of the majority of media productions
media products from live theatre, film, television, comic books and even
computer games. Good scripts are essential to ensure that a
narrative flows well and a story is brought to life. By completing
this unit, students will understand scripts and the part they play in
a range of media products. Students will be able to generate a
range of ideas and then use one of these ideas to produce a
script for a media product, in response to a client brief.
23 Create a At the heart of this unit is the synoptic approach that embeds a
personal media wide range of industry skills, knowledge and understanding and
profile practical activities. The creative media sector is competitive
and being prepared is one step nearer to students achieving
their chosen career. This unit will be a showcase of the work they
have created, supported by a personal media profile. Students
will identify content to be included in their showcase, as well as
create an adaptation of a piece of their existing media work.
They'll evidence their personal media profile by exploring their
skillset, abilities and achievements and learn how to combine
their creative work and personal profile to create
a digital professional identity suitable for sharing with
prospective employers, higher education institutions and for
other career progression pathways.
24 Cross media The media industry as a whole is vast and split into many
industry different sectors including film, television, games design, web
awareness design, radio and print production. You will find that in the
digital age, many of these sectors are finding it easier to work
together to create cross-media products that target global
audiences. As such, there are many different job roles that you
can work or specialise in across a range of sectors, and the skills
and qualities you are likely to need to succeed in the media
industry are becoming ever more diverse. The aim of this unit is
for students to develop their understanding of how different
media sectors operate and what products they produce.
Students will develop awareness about how concepts and
brands are adapted into different products (such as books into
films) in order to widen audience reach. They'll learn about the
impact that new technologies have had on the industry in terms
of revolutionising the production and distribution of their
products and opportunities for synergy. Students will investigate
different job roles within the media industry, be able to compare
and contrast skills needed and plan a suitable route of
progression into the career that they have an interest in working
within. They'll also be given the opportunity to investigate a job
role in order to gain an understanding about a position within a
wider hierarchy in a specific sector.
Equipment training

Computers
- Proper use & care
- how to set up desktop
- How to set up mouse & keyboard
- Using Adobe suite
- Using Celtx
- Save locations & servers
- VLC
Cameras
Tripods
Sound
Lighting

Contract for equipment use

Computers
Cameras
Tripods
Sound
Lighting