The OCR A Level in Photography, Moving Image and Animation is structured to develop your practical skills in many aspects of this exciting and creative field. It would appeal to students wanting to try something new as well as those who have previously studied GCSE Photography and would like to take their work in a new direction.

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From September to February in Year 12 you will work on a range of practical tasks, the analytical reading of photographs and films and be involved in several workshops, all of which cover a wide range of skills from camera controls, capturing footage and editing to image manipulation in Adobe Photoshop. After this initial guidance and practice, the work you produce will be compiled into a digital portfolio as part of a personal investigation into a theme or topic of your choice. Through a discussion with staff you can write your own brief and realise this using a variety of lens-based techniques.

The course encourages students to take creative risks with their work that may include the use of video, animation, time-lapse and other creative approaches. We encourage creativity and don’t accept the ‘play it safe’ ethos to your work The diverse and wide-ranging themes chosen in the past include: the human condition, time, binary opposites, moments, identity, new realities and the environment.

The personal investigation is made up of:

1) A digital portfolio of practical work based on your own theme
2) A written Personal Investigation looking at the contextual aspects of the theme.

From February until April in Year 13, you will be working on Component 2. You will receive a set of ‘themes’ from the awarding body which you use as a starting point to research, plan and develop a personal response that is then produced in 15 hours at the end of the unit. Here you will employ many of the skills and techniques you developed during Component 1 and during the Year 12 workshops.

Your learning will be enhanced through the use of visiting professionals and trips.