Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Digital Media Unit 3 Producing a Media Product

Lesson Element

Unit 3: Create a media product

Asset sourcing and copyright

Instructions and answers for tutors

These instructions cover the learner activity section which can be found on page6. This lesson element supports Cambridge Technicals Level 3 in Digital Media.

When distributing the activity section to the learners either as a printed copy or as a Word file you will need to remove the tutor instructions section.

This lesson element

As part of the productions, learners may needto source assets (sound effects, images etc.) to support and/or add meaning to their productions. Therefore being able to reference sourced assets and check copyright permissions is important in this process.

Before learners start the post-production stages they need to make sure any copyright permissions are sought for any sourced assets intended to be used in their media product.

NOTE: The main content of the production should be original and produced by the learners. Sourced assets should only support the final production piece. For example, if a radio drama was being made, learners would be expected to do all the recordings of the dialogue and some Foley sounds. Any sound effects or theme music could be sourced but must be edited further by the learners and copyright permissions to be sought first. If this cannot be sought then the asset is not to be used.

This lesson element supports learners in identifying and evaluating the purpose of copyright and referencing. This is further developed by the learners demonstrating their knowledge by sourcing and referencing a sound effect and image to support a new media product.

Activity 1: Copyright and referencing

The tutor could begin with asking the learners what they think copyright means, why it is important and how it gains permissions for sourced assets. This could be a group task and or starter task to the lesson. It would be beneficial at this stage for the tutor to mention to the learners that as part of their productions, sourced assets should not make up the majority and should not outweigh the original content.

In order for learners to know how to source assets as part of Activity 2, they need to know how to reference and seek copyright permission.

Before undertaking Activity 2, learners will need to see examples of how to reference different types of media, whether it is a sound effect, photography or referencing research.

How to cite film, video and online media article has examples of how to reference resources which are useful when referencing research of different media products and platforms.
This PDF document has a step by step guide on how to reference a sound effect or song that is found online using the Modern Language Association format.
Cite this for me is an online bibliography generator which creates references from a range of different platforms and stores the bibliography online.

For Activity 1, learners are required to use the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle from the above link and identify the similarities and differences in how to reference a media product.

Learners will require:

Access to the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle as a hand-out.

Activity 1 requires learners to:

Define the purpose of copyright and referencing
Identify the similarities in referencing a range of media products
Identify the differences in referencing a range of media products
Explain why gaining copyright permission is important.

For Activity 1, learners will use the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle and make notes on the features that are similar and different in the reference for different media products.

The tutor should check that learners are able to identify and justify why the references have similar and different features.

Learners could use written notes and or mind maps to evidence their understanding.

Answers to questions:

Copyright means accrediting original ideas by a person and or organisation. Referencing is when you acknowledge the person/organisation that you have researched in your own work. Without acknowledging the originator can result in plagiarism.
Similarities that all references have included: the name or the author/organisation (in capitals, Surname first), date it was published, title of the work (in italics or quote marks), medium (e.g. video, book, DVD).
Differences that references can have are: If it was found online then the website address and date it was accessed (e.g. YouTube video), a film reference will include the directors name in capitals etc.
Copyright is important because the owner of the original idea(s) is then accredited for their work. If anybody wants to use/manipulate the work then they have to seek permission from the originator beforehand. Examples of how copyright could be sought are: email, phone calland letter.

Activity 2: Sourcing a sound effect and photograph

For Activity 2, learners are required to use the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle to reference a sound effect sourced online and the Bibme guide to reference a photograph sourced online. This could be a paired activity where the tutor could give each group a scenario of a media product that needs a suitable sound effect (for example, a horror trailer, radio drama set in a café etc.) and photograph to be used in the promotional material for the product.

Some useful websites for the learners to use for Activity 2 are:

Creative Commons () which has external links to copyright free sounds, images, videos etc. that could be useful for this task and also the learners future productions. For example for Flixr, in the search box put the name of the subject you want to see examples of. When the results come up in the ‘Any license’ tab you can select ‘All Creative Commons’ to have the results only display images that are copyright free. Once you select the image that you want there is a ‘some rights reserved’ hyperlink underneath the image which will show you the details of the Creative Commons license and how you can use the image. You can then go back and reference the originator of the image and take a screen grab of the Creative Commons license too to support the reference.
Bibme has a step by step guide on how to reference photos found in a range of places online, in books.

Learners will require:

Access to the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle
Access to the Bibme guide on how to reference photographs
Access to Creative Commons
Access to Bibme.

Activity 1 requires the learners to:

Source a sound effect and image online using the templates above
Reference the sound effect and image found online using the template above.

The tutor should check that learners are able to find and correctly reference a sound effect and image appropriate to the media product that the tutor has set for the group(s).

Learners could use screen grabs and written notes to evidence their work.

Answers to the Activity 2

How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle
Bibme (for sourcing photographs).

Suggested timings

Activity 1

Activity 2

Sourcing a sound effect and photograph (1 hour)

Lesson Element

Asset sourcing and copyright

Learner Activity

Activity 1: Copyright and referencing

Copyright and referencing is important in your work so that you can correctly acknowledge the person and/or organisation that you may use or research as part of your productions.

Your task is to:

Define the purpose of copyright and referencing
Identify the similarities and differences in referencing a range of media products
Explain why gaining copyright permission is important in the media industries
Sourcing and referencing a sound effect and image to support a new media product.

In order for you to source and reference a sound effect and photograph as part of Activity 2, you need to be able to know the purpose of copyright and referencing. For example how to gain permission for copyrighted graphic or sound effect that you want to manipulate as part of your productions and referencing it. Be able to know how to reference research that you do as part of your productions e.g. existing media products.

Using the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticleanswer the following questions:

What is the purpose of copyright and referencing?

What are the similarities in the reference examples in the How to cite film, video and online mediaarticle?

What are the differences in the reference examples in the How to cite film, video and online media article?

Why is gaining copyright permission important? Give reasons.

Activity 2 – Sourcing a sound effect and photograph

Your task is to use to help you source a suitable sound effect and photograph for the media product that your tutor has given you as an example for this task.

You can use Microsoft Word to write up the reference for the sound effect and photograph that you have found.