The launch of the MIA syllabus appears to have emanated from a variety of lobbies including bfi, NIMEA and CCEA's Art and Design team. CCEA commissioned Cary Bazalgette from bfi and Ian Wall from Film Education to draw up the initial specifications for the course and after a good deal of tweaking the specifications were approved by QCA and duly launched in September 2003 with an initial cohort drawn from eight local schools. CCEA provided INSET that included a summer school and a number of workshops throughout the first year. The subject was located within CCEA's Art and Design portfolio possibly due to the steer from one of its source documents Unlocking Creativity. Part of CCEA's remit was also to proceed with courses that could be examined in more efficient and innovative ways by making use of the new technologies. Thus MIA became a pilot, not just for a more creative content base, but also for a paperless examination. Clearly CCEA has a great deal to gain from a successful syllabus that can offer creativity, use of new digital technologies and a range of skills and ideas that are, in the jargon, transferable and saleable in twenty first century society.

The complete details of the AS course can be found on CCEA's website at www.ccea.org.uk where the final part of the A2 specifications will soon be posted now that CCEA has decided to extend the pilot to a full 'A' level for first examination in 2006. As the A2 details are currently being finalised my comments clearly apply only to the AS level syllabus.

The basic structure of the course is made up of three units - two coursework components, AS1 and AS2 and an online examination.

AS1 requires study of one area from the following:

• a film genre
• a TV genre
• a documentary format
• an advertising format.

Candidates are then expected to present one written and one practical assignment. These are teacher assessed and externally moderated. The written assignment is between seven hundred and one thousand words and is based on the selected area of study. In my case I taught the gangster genre and focused on the shoot-out scene using clips from High Sierra, Breathless and The Untouchables. The finished essay developed points about the relevant areas of film language and the differences in style evident in the chosen texts or indeed any other relevant text suggested by candidates based on their own film knowledge.

On reflection I'm not entirely convinced that the gangster genre was the best choice but my own working knowledge of key texts and the availability of resource material persuaded me that this was a good area to explore. The problem with film genres is that students tend to have very different preferences from teachers and their range of texts is often quite limited. A related issue is that the course of study demands at least a potted history of film with some reference to the seminal texts that have shaped cinema history - Citizen Kane, Psycho and so on. Whatever the choice of study area it cannot be taught in a purely theoretical way because engagement with a number of relevant moving image texts is essential if candidates are to write an informed and balanced piece of work.

The second piece required for the AS Unit 1 is a practical assignment which is in the nature of an experimental film, in the sense of experimenting with film language as beginners. This finished piece should last between forty and sixty seconds but animation which is also an option is limited to sixteen seconds given the nature of such a task. The piece should focus on one or more key aspects of film language such as editing, sound and lighting. The candidate is required to submit an accompanying report indicating her intentions and the extent to which the artifact realises those in intentions

There is no doubt that the practical assignments far outweigh the written one in terms of time and effort. As with anything practical the demands are very different from the straight teaching for an essay. In this case skills training, organisational capabilities suitable locations, access to computers and more time than the timetable allows all make great demands on the teacher. The short practical assignment I had planned for completion by Christmas began to reach completion much nearer to Easter. The fact that I had twenty students in the group was hopelessly ambitious for a pilot project. Numbers above twelve seem to make the time demands go from expensive to exponential. And the nature of the artifacts is such that they must be individual assignments. It follows that the possibilities a number of similar projects with specified variations are very limited. We did manage to complete the twenty individual assignments but once again with the benefit of that wonderful thing called hindsight we were simply too ambitious in our expectations. AS1 one should be little more than an experimental piece so re-editing a QuickTime film trailer or adding a different sound track to an existing film clip are perfectly valid ways of fulfilling the criteria.

The AS2 unit is in essence a short film that shows evidence of pre-production, production and evaluation. This requires a synopsis, storyboard, script, shot-list, shooting schedule and some reference to anticipated audience. Most of this we found manageable but there were stumbling blocks, particularly with matching candidates' ideas with projects that could be realised within or close to the school environment. The shooting schedule proved to be something that caused enormous difficulty in the school context. Whatever its purpose of teaching organisational and industrial processes, the simple fact is that shooting schedules and school timetables are not terribly compatible entities.

The actual production should last between 60 seconds and 3 minutes but quality takes precedence over length. Once again we did manage to complete all projects but editing is a hugely time-consuming process, even when using something as accessible as iMovie4, which was our chosen application. The accompanying evaluation was very straightforward as most candidates had a very good idea of where they were successful and where they felt they could have made improvements. By way of preparation for this part of the coursework we had a film 'show' for the entire group and candidates presented their work prefaced by a brief introduction and a follow up that involved audience feedback.

Both units are moderated externally by CCEA which also organises the online examination. This lasts one and a half hours on a specified date - in our case early in June 2004. The examination consists of three previously unseen film extracts viewed on a computer using the CCEA website with related questions about film language, style and audience and representation. Responses are then word-processed by candidates who can navigate between the clips, the questions and their own responses. It seems like an exercise fraught with all kinds of technical disasters but the trial run in January 2003 and the real thing in June 2004 both went remarkably smoothly. As for the examination situation itself, I have never seen a more engaged group of students. Seated at their own computers with headphones on and aware of the site expiry time they were totally focused for the entire length of the examination. The combination of moving image, sound and print make this an exercise in multimedia which appeared to hold their attention at a much higher level than traditional examinations.

So, was it worthwhile and would we do it all again? The answer, it seems, is yes because we have two classes taking up Moving Image Arts now that CCEA has given approval for a full 'A' level for first teaching in September 2004 and first examination in 2006. Students appear to be voting with their feet and there can be little doubt that the practical and creative appeal of the MIA syllabus minimizes the need for that elusive motivation factor. There is an excellent selection of materials and suggestions from the examining team posted alongside the subject specifications. CD-ROM materials are available from Media Education Wales, Film Education and the British Film Institute. Other support materials can be found on the Media Education website at www.mediaed.org.uk which has a selection of lessons, advice and guidelines for video production.

The last word goes to the class wit who remarked, "No one is ever going to mistake me for Tarantino's love child but I enjoyed making up stories, filming my idea and making a film that had ME stamped all over it!"

© 2005 Gerry Connor