Unit 43- Task 1- P1

Multimedia: what types of media I’m going to use to create my DVD

Department: English (sixth-form/ A-Level)   

The purpose of this multimedia DVD is to inform and persuade a target audience of potential sixth-formers (teenagers) and maybe their parents- who may care for the welfare of their child- to join the department of English at the Kingswood School.  

In addition, to promote and sell the subject and the school, it would be best to create the DVD in a simple-to-use format, for those who maybe computer illiterate.

Video: I am going to use a video to individually interview and film in class one or more of my English teachers, where we will discuss both Literature and Language. I could also take a video of the corridors of the English Department, where they have nice displays which show the diversity and the magnitude of English as a language and the vastness and wonder of literature.

Creating a video will allow the viewers to see what the teachers are like themselves, which is more informal than still photos, and this more comfortable assessment of the staff will persuade the audience to come to the school. It also enables the audience to examine the quality of the school, as it is an important decision.  

This form of addressing the audience is entertaining, as it is different to reading whole amounts of text and doesn't defer the viewers’ attention by uninteresting blocks of informative discourse.  

Text: As it is an English subject, I could insert text from actual novels which we study in the course, i.e. the Gothic, Tragedy, Poetry, etc. Additional samples of text could be extracts of Old English, Middle English and Modern English; this could be backed up by the text being spoken, as the words are highlighted in gold or something similar. This will make the language almost come alive in front of the audience’s eyes and is more intriguing than normal, plain text.

Other forms of text could be pieces of student’s work, like quality creative stories and essays, which demonstrate the opportunities of discovering and exploring the English world that the potential student can look forward to. This effect entices the audience to join the school.

Not to overwhelm the viewers, some simple and short (but persuasive) sentences will be written, with vital information that they would need to know. Too much over-the-top multimedia will distract the audience from seeking specific information they may be looking for and this will put them off applying to join the English department and consequently the school.

Images: Images could be of students work and/or the posters that have been hung up in the sixth-form classrooms, to show the audience what they could achieve. I may additionally take photos of students who have got good grades in this subject, (with a message from them about what they enjoyed about the course, their experiences and if they will continue to study English.)

Seeing photos will persuade the potential English students, as they will see evidence of people like them who have enjoyed the subject and would “recommend it to anyone.”

Audio: This could be in the form of text being read aloud by a teacher or something I could find from YouTube. If the audience hears passion in the speaker’s voice, they will be more open to studying English. I could also try and import extracts of texts read by famous people, like parts of an audio book read by Joanna Lumley, etc. The influence from the celebrity will appeal to them even more.

The sounds of the ‘old’ could be put forward, in a reading of Old English text in the accent and dialect of someone who sounds like they've just stepped out of those times.

Once again, audio multimedia as a whole will further appeal to all of the viewer’s senses. Some people are visual learners, some kinaesthetic and a great majority are audio listeners. So having information about the course in a listening format may be more interesting and exciting than, again, pages and pages of normal text.   

Animations: Animations could be of characters in a book, having a short cartoon of Romeo and Juliet’s balcony scene, for example. Once more this could also apply to the ‘language’ side of English; perhaps the DVD could have a cartoon prime minister speaking to his/her country, explaining how persuasive language works.

Animation would demonstrate the lighter side to English, how it’s not all about heavy text books and essays, but a real study of the language and a deep and adventurous exploration of literature.

This could will the audience to study, as seeing the lighter side of the courses will defer from ideas that the courses seems too difficult and/or boring.

Links: I believe putting in a link to the school’s website could be the most useful thing to do, as the audience would then have all the information they need to find on one disk. Such a convenience would coax them more to look further into studying English and coming to this school, which is the imperative purpose for this DVD to be made.

Graphics: I could use the school’s official logo, which would remind the audience of which school these courses are being run by. The sense of community and a good educational environment should be symbolized from the schools logo, and also the core values that the school stands by. This should hopefully pragmatically tell the viewer’s that not only is studying English is a great thing to do, but taking it at this school would be a comfortable and happy time spent.