Slasher + Rom-Com blogs

I won't have time to add much to these over the next few weeks, but have been adding links to useful articles etc to a couple of new blogs:
http://romcoms.blogspot.com/
http://dbhorror.blogspot.com/

Feedback/suggestions on your blogs

I've been working through all your blogs this week. From this, some observations, and some suggestions:

• IMAGES/HYPERLINKS/PRESENTATION
• remember that you are assessed on the presentation of the blog itself!
• incorporate images to illustrate your posts as you go, as well as hyperlinks (eg IMDB entries for film titles)
• set aside some time to track back through your posts adding such images/links
• ...don't copy/paste these in as they generally won't successfully appear; instead save the image, and then use the blogger image tool to upload it into your post
• make use of the LINKS LIST gadget, which does help to make your blog take on a more multimedia, feature-laden look
• these could be for various themes: useful books/sites/articles; key films - or even resources/reviews on one particularly key text; other useful blogs; your fellow group members' blogs; box office analysis; YouTube links for clips, openings, trailers etc; discussion lists linked to your topic; key companies (whether production, distribution or exhibition), eg WT is a big player in UK rom-com, Dimension Films in low-to-mid budget US horror - there are many possibilities
• it would be useful to pair up with someone not in your group and give each other feedback on what they find useful in your blog, what they think might be added to give the reader better info, and perhaps also typos!
• LENGTHY POSTS
• avoid long, continuous paragraphs - bullet points are absolutely fine in the context of a blog, which above all should be user friendly:
• the key guiding principle should be that information is easy to find, and easy to digest (you could for example provide brief explanations of any technical terms you use, such as convergence or synergy)
  
• for any lengthy posts, provide a summary (preferrably bullet-pointed) at the beginning or end, changing the font (and maybe size, colour, bold etc) to help it stand out
• THATS A NICE QUOTE FROM WIKIPEDIA, BUT...
• ALWAYS make explicit what you've learned from your research, and...
• ...which aspects of what you've read/(re)viewed are you going to (at least consider) applying to your own work?
• Wikipedia is a great tool, but try to avoid relying on it - book-based research is invaluable, and using broadsheet newspapers such as The Guardian will help stamp your research with the hallmark of quality!
• it is vital too that you always credit where you have learned anything you are writing on - it doesn't matter if you're not actually quoting, you should still provide the source (URL, book, etc) [there is a separate, more detailed post on this]...
• or you risk, instead of earning marks for good research, being guilty of plagiarism, a serious offence in any subject, not just Media
• NICE FILM, BUT WHO'S IT FOR?
• this is fundamental to the way you're assessed: you must provide clear and detailed analysis of who your film will be aimed at
• if you haven't, you really haven't engaged with the task
• you'll see this is one of the 7 evaluation questions
• if you go on to A2 Media, we return to this question of Audience, and specifically consider this in the context of your own practical work
• the BLOG CHECKLIST section on Audience runs to several pages - make use of this! I've also added further posts on the Coursework + BritCinema blogs
• establishing a target audience includes looking at box office returns for films within your genre, which may help to argue that there is indeed an audience for such movies. Try to make sure you include some British examples in this!

remember, at the heart of the coursework task is the idea that you're emulating, as far as you can, an actual film production company! film producers have to persuade investors that the film package they have attained the rights to can turn a profit - and so do you!

• GENRE, GENRE, GENRE
• 3 very important words there!
• again, if you don't engage with the concept of genre, your mark will suffer
• its important that you've provided a clear and detailed summary of the genre conventions, as well as analysis of a good range of genre openings
• don't rely purely on Wikipedia for your genre knowledge!!!
• this is a prime candidate for...
• [THE CAMERA LOVES ME]
• ...starring in your own videos...
• ...feel free (its a good idea, and will help the look of your blog!) to use videos in place of written work within posts
• the discussion format - we've looked at examples of this, which you can review on the blog - works well, especially if you shoot with 2 cameras and add in some relevant stills to break up the footage of your wise gaze!

Box Office(Mojo) by Genre

You can examine the history of US box office for your genre/s at https://secure.boxofficemojo.com/genres/?ref=ft
The following example is for the slasher genre:

https://secure.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=slasher.htm (accessed online 8.4.10 - always worth noting as online material can alter!); it should help you justify the choice of genre in terms of its established box office appeal (though you'll also need some UK box office examples).
[You can compare this with a variety of other horror sub-genres at the site, and/or thrillers:

Thriller - Erotic	42	Fatal Attraction	$156.6
Thriller - Political	52	Air Force One	$173.0
Thriller - Psycho / Stalker / Blank from Hell	30	Fatal Attraction	$156.6
Thriller - Serial Killer	46	Hannibal	$165.1

]

Horror - Slasher

1978-Present
Note: Many slasher movies from the '70s and '80s have no box office records, and, hence, do not appear on this chart.
TOTAL GROSSES | OPENING WEEKENDS

Rank	Title (click to view)	Studio	Lifetime Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Date
1	Scream	Dim.	$103,046,663	1,994	$6,354,586	1,413	12/20/96
2	Scream 2	Dim.	$101,363,301	2,688	$32,926,342	2,663	12/12/97
3	Scream 3	Dim.	$89,143,175	3,467	$34,713,342	3,467	2/4/00
4	Freddy Vs. Jason	NL	$82,622,655	3,014	$36,428,066	3,014	8/15/03
5	The Texas Chainsaw Massacre	NL	$80,571,655	3,018	$28,094,014	3,016	10/17/03

Young Film Critic comp

There isn't any spare class time to spend on this, but you may be interested in this:

The Young Film Critic of the Year competition is open to any student aged 4-19yrs that is resident in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. There are four age ranges, with matching categories for those with a sensory impairment.
The winners are announced every October during a ceremony at BAFTA. The 2009 event was hosted by BBC Blue Peter presenter Joel Defries and featured appearances by a range of film personalities, including the actor Tom Felton.
The competition aims to empower young people of all ages to become their own critics of film.
Young Film Critic of the Year is produced as part of National Schools Film Week by our charity, Film Education. The 2010 competition is currently open for entries in all categories.

See  http://www.filmeducation.org/youngfilmcritic/ to find out more.


For example, you could be writing on how you liked the early Roadrunner work but then the standard dropped...