Age ratings

The BBFC (UK) + MPAA (USA) age ratings are always useful context to note when blogging on a film.

Do this consistently and you'll see a clear pattern (not a rule, there are always exceptions in the film industry):

• Indie productions tend to have higher ratings (15/18)
• big 5, studio productions tend to veer lower (12/15 and lower)

There is an argument that this is partly down to bias towards the conglomerates by the BBFC + MPAA, which, after all, are industry bodies. The contrasting decisions on This is England and Sweet Sixteen compared to Dark Knight and World's End are quite telling. The BBFC has some useful detail on their website on all movies they've rated, but also case studies ... including 2 of those...

You can find out a lot more by using my mediareg blog, especially using the BBFC tag (same for my cinema blog, or using individual movie tags such World's End)

There's a LOT on my mediareg blog...

What would your 'POSSIBLE INFLUENCES' be from this?

You should simply reflect on your likely rating as an Indie producer:

• set out your intended rating, and break this down with detail of the BBFC guidelines on 12/15/18
• 12 is likely to be restrictive in terms of content you can feature
• 18 is likely to dramatically limit your potential audience, assuming your primary target audience is 15-24+
• you should also reflect on the impact of digitisation though: 'underage' viewing is likely to be significant, especially beyond the cinema (but including some there too - is YOUR experience that cinemas are STRICT in TIGHTLY enforcing age limits?
• provide multiple examples that help indicate this is a realistic rating to aim for - but also others that show that there is variety in this (12s, 18s). You could always do a basic global box office comparison to evidence the impact of 18 ratings

As well as the very useful BBFC entries, IMDB has a 'parental guide' section (its UGC) which often gives multiple international age ratings and (user) guidance on age-sensitive content.

BBFC detail

IMDB user-generated guide

THEORY postmodernism deconstructionism intertextuality and simulacra

trailer; YT scream movie search; D Mode;

POSTMODERNISM

Argues that all the 'isms', eg capitalism, communism, are now meaningless - the meta-narratives no longer have the power to explain the world or reality. It is of course self-contradictory: postmodernism is an ism!
Strinati argues there is a collapse in the high/popular culture divide - all are now equally valid.
Such notions lead to playfulness.

DECONSTRUCTIONISM

The ironic use of existing conventions in a knowing way; the audience is assumed to be in on the irony. EG: in Scream the Matthew Lillard character cries out dramatically "I'll be right back", an old horror trope being that this denotes a character will be killed. The other teens at the party respond with that in mind, in a scene where they're sat watching Halloween. Craven is poking fun at, or critiquing, the very genre he helped to create with 1972's The Last House on the Left.
(scene where the rules are discussed, ending with 'I'll be right back')

This occurs across all media - this Depeche Mode video is a classic example, deconstructing the band's poor, tawdry image and the male gaze.

INTERTEXTUALITY

A simple but profound concept originating with Kristeva - the preferred reading (Stuart Hall!) of two texts are linked; the viewer needs knowledge of the earlier text to be able to follow the preferred reading of the newer text. TV shows like The Simpsons are built on this, and there is a strong vein of this running through the slasher genre
To help generate cheap publicity for his 1978 proto-slasher Halloween, director John Carpenter cast the daughter of Psycho's scream queen!
In Scream, the characters are watching Halloween!

SIMULACRA

Scary Movie exemplifies the ideas above - it takes intertextuality to a new level: Scream had the working title of Scary Movie, and this film is a satirical remake, quite literally signposting the conventions (eg the Carmen Electra scream queen sees a sign giving the options for either death or safety ... and runs up the stairs where the death sign points to, as the dumb scream queens tend to).
These movies have been much analysed, not least for gender representations. Baudrillard might argue that this leads nowhere as there is no ultimate meaning behind an endless sea of signifiers; Scary Movie is an expression of many existing ideas or signifiers, which cannot be tracked back to any concrete 'true reality' or meaning.
Ideas like encourage playfulness, as seen in these two films.

PITCH DEVELOPMENT - BUILDING A CHARACTER

You need to be really clear on (especially, NOT exclusively!) the fictional protagonist (or Proppian archetype of the hero... Campbell's 'hero' who, reflecting the 'monomyth' - and to a degree Todorov's theory of narrative structure [NEW equilibrium...] will go on a quest, the hero's journey...).

A moodboard will help enormously with this, which can be a mix of objects, people and more. Try this simple exercise...

List 5 films/TV s/he watches; 5 gadgets; 5 items of clothing; 5 places s/he's been to; 5 drinks/foods they like; 5 random further details (eg family, friends, quirks, talents, job...).
Now add any 3 images which represent their binary opposite (which might help start developing further characters + flag up things to avoid in costume, body language, mise-en-scene generally...)

NOW can you sum up the character in a couple of sentences?

SUGGESTED POST TITLE
NARRATIVE - visualising the characters [or a sep post for each main character]

FORMAT/PRESENTATION
A Ppt could be a convenient, quick way of doing this (1 heading, 5 images per slide), though adding images into a single Word doc without any accompanying text as an ADDITION would be simply smart - killing two birds with 1 stone, with apologies to our avian friends...

REFLECTING KNOWLEDGE/UNDERSTANDING OF THEORY
Note my brief usage/application of basic narrative theories above - the more you do this, the simpler such concepts will become for you. I only learnt them myself through repeated application!!!

THEORY CHALLENGE
Can you further apply more advanced theory like Hebdige's concept of subcultures, or (and these link together well!) Pierre Bourdieu's notion of cultural capital?

CHARACTER COMPARISON
As you review each set of answers, have a go at expressing the ideas as 1+ existing people/characters (eg the Mr Robot lead with a dash of Graham Norton - a brooding, ultra-talented (area?) individual with a camp side, fondness for pop culture as well as 'high culture'. Can you now create an additional moodboard?

INDUSTRY RESEARCH quick guide to initial work

You're going to do a series of simple posts researching key production and distribution details on a range of Warp (Indie) and Working Title (studio/big 5 subsidiary) films - then sum up your findings in a post.

We will come back to add more over time, eg the Gant rule, the release window + release window, editionalising etc.

For now, for each of the 6 films named you'll use some combination of rottentomatoes.com, boxofficemojo.com, the-numbers.com, imdb.com, BBFC, ... and Wikipedia!! Film Wikis can be great for quickly finding key info - though the figures given aren't always accurate alas.

You may find differing figures in the 2 box office sites - use your judgement on which to use.
Films with a zero or no entry are likely to have failed to have gained 'theatrical' (cinema) distribution at all, other than possible festival appearances.

To speed this up, I've provided some sample figures + commentary/analysis for Warp (just taken out 2 film names...), + sample WT figures. You can refer to any of these in your summary. The google download price or lack of would need checking again!

SUB-HEADINGS TO USE IN EACH POST
Again, you don't need to write much, just enough to show some understanding of what the figures mean in context (as ever, ask if stumped!). Provide screenshots for at least some of these sub-headings (no need to do that for all). You can copy/paste my list below + just edit the text! The Wikis and BOMojo will provide most of the detail you need, if its not already given in my handouts.

MY SUMMARY
Complete the rest + come back to this. Use sentences and/or bullet points for all writing in these posts.

BUDGET
Usually stated in $. Round off, eg $14,555,365 = $15m. k for thousand, m for million, bn for billion.

BBFC/MPAA
An 18/NC17 are considered box office death, and certainly kill off any hopes f a four quadrant strategy... This is England's age rating of 18 was highly controversial - the BBFC have written about this (and I challenged them about this on a school trip...).

MAIN PRODUCTION CO/S

IMDB, Wiki etc (not to mention titles in the film) will often credit quite a few 'production' companies. In reality, many are financing and/or TV co's, while many stars and directors have their own production label through which their take might go. For Warp, note Warp + any UK TV co + any of the film funding agencies like Screen Yorkshire. For WT, its them + 1 other main co-production partner, usually Universal or StudioCanal, but it varies.

MAIN DISTRIBUTION CO/S

As above, but this time you're especially looking at the BOMojo 'foreign' table for theatrical distributors to note US (from the main 'domestic' screen/box, as that = USA) + UK distributors.

DIRECTOR
Name and simply try their wiki - are they a 'big' name in terms of having directed any hits? Or perhaps an auteur (serious filmmaker with a known style; possibly explores social issues). Just try reading a few lines from their Wiki to help make a judgement.

STARS
Are there ANY stars? A-lister/s? Use your judgement/use Wiki!

BOX OFFICE (UK, US, China, global)
We'll explore later how Charles Gant has suggested a way to predict UK box office of a US studio hit. For this note these figures, including $0. You won't find any Warp films with a China figure - it has a strict foreign quota system, only around 50 Western productions are allowed to be released in cinemas each year. Think about why Warp don't get theirs released here, the world's 2nd biggest film market - look at what you've noted above!

# OF COUNTRIES
Remembering to add +1 for USA (= domestic, ie home, market for sites like BOMojo), count the # of countries it got a theatrical release in. Indie productions most often manage zero!

YT, GOOGLE OR AMAZON DL £
Is it available as a DL (download) for a fixed price? Don't spend too long on this, its just useful to embed the idea of new modes of distribution.

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Selected warp gaps box office figures from DB3igs

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Selected wt gaps box office figures from DB3igs

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CIE BLOG GUIDE Coursework journey in 10 steps

Below I break down the ten steps involved in your journey and copy in the assessment criteria. Scroll to the end for four Word guides; two more are here and here.

**More detailed breakdowns with suggested post titles etc are embedded at the end of this post**

STEP 1: INITIAL RESEARCH - OPENING CONVENTIONS; THE INDUSTRY
Initial research into the conventions of the film opening format (general) and the film industry

STEP 2: APPLY RESEARCH - PITCH, GROUPS, REVISE IDEA

Apply this and initial genre research to develop and pitch an idea; possibly form groups; revise the idea following feedback/collaboration

STEP 3: GENRE, AUDIENCE
Genre specific research, and audience research/analysis. It is CRUCIAL that you keep making reference to research (format, genre, industry, audience) throughout the process right up to the point of final cuts.

STEP 4: PRE-PRODUCTION
Pre-production: casting, costume, props, make-up (clear evidenced reference to your research into existing examples is crucial); location scouting; sample/test shoots - audience feedback, reflection; updates on the idea as it evolves. Setting up social media profiles [for your company and/or film] is an option (helps to evidence appreciation of marketing and engaging with audience). Clarify the final idea, and storyboard this - its almost certain to change a lot, but its important to make the concept very clear. An animatic [animated storyboard] is a useful means of demonstrating your concept. Begin regular/frequent short podcasts (shows [often details!] organisation, engagement with audience, marketing + a grasp of how the industry works; also a use of tehnology).

Setting up new blogs

You will need a gmail account to complete this.

Your task is simple: carefully following the instructions below, set up a new blog and start adding to it with the tasks at the bottom of this post!

We'll follow these simple steps:

1: sign in to blogger.com with your gmail details 

2: click create new blog 

3: name the blog - think of it as a film company; do not use your full name 

4: create the URL/address, which should be short + based on the blog/company name 

5: select the template + set layout 

6: adjust widths. So long as you all use the same template + set widths to be the same you can share (copy/paste) posts within a group without any need for further editing. Roughly 1000/300 

7: change hyperlink colour; time setting; word verification to off; add email + comment moderation note: 'Please note ALL comments are moderated'. 

8: email the blog link to me 

9: Create your 1st 2 posts + comment on others' 

10: Follow this + other blogs

8: 

Read the following carefully; take the time to think of a brief and memorable URL:

PREVIEWS OF THE BLOGGER SCREENS:

CIE EVALUATION overview with UK comparison guide

NOTE: This is formally named the CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTIONYou are marked not just on answering the question, but also for:

• creativity in how you do so
• using critical theory and self-critiquing
• use of technology to do so

In practice, you should take 1 of 2 approaches:

1. Create one SUBSTANTIAL creative text for each answer, AND/OR...
2. Recycle a format or spread it across multiple Qs so you've got multiple creative approaches for each Q.  It makes sense if you've spent any time on creating a set!

These often won't be ideal for actually answering the question, so make sure you fill in any gaps with some combination of well-illustrated:

• PowerPoint/Prezi
• blog post content
• video/vodcast

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This is a 'hub' post for BOTH the CIE version of the AS Media Evaluation AND the UK (OCR) spec on which its based.  Use the hyperlinks below to find specific posts/guides on the 4 CIE/7 OCR questions. See here for CIE blog guide.

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IN THIS POST:

• The 4 CIE AS Evaluation ('creative critical reflection') questions
• A suggestion to split both Q1 and Q2 into two (though presented in one post for each full question)
• Comparing the UK OCR and CIE Evaluation questions so you can make use of past students' responses to get pointers and inspiration
• The 3 'AOs' (assessment objectives): how its marked
• The level descriptions (L5 = A, L4 = B/C, L3 = D/E)
• A list of some terms/concepts you could try to include somewhere within your evaluation
• Ideas for 'creative' presentation and for evidencing/using a range of technologies (linked to marks!)

THE FOUR CIE AS EVALUATION QUESTIONS

In practice I will consider these as SIX questions, splitting Q1 + Q2 into two; in short (click hyperlinks for individual guides): 

Q1a: how you used or challenged CONVENTIONS
Q1b: REPRESENTATIONS of social groups/issues
Q2a: how you engaged with AUDIENCES
Q2b: how might it achieve DISTRIBUTION
Q3: DEVELOPMENT of production skills throughout the entire process
Q4: how you integrated TECHNOLOGIES (software, hardware, online) in the project
 

THE UK OCR + CIE AS EVALUATION QUESTIONS COMPARED with hyperlinks
So you can grasp how these will link with your FOUR questions I've plotted below how these link. In time there will be more CIE blogs to compare with, but for now UK OCR blogs are a key resource for you

SUMMARY COMPARISON (= means very similar to!)
CIE Q1a CONVENTIONS =  OCR Q1 CONVENTIONS
CIE Q1b REPRESENTATIONS = OCR Q2 REPRESENTATIONS
CIE Q2b DISTRIBUTION = OCR Q3 DISTRIBUTION (+ exam links post)
CIE Q2a AUDIENCES = OCR Q4/Q5 AUDIENCES
CIE Q4 TECHNOLOGIES = OCR Q6 TECHNOLOGIES
CIE Q3 DEVELOPMENT = OCR Q7 DEVELOPMENT

OCR Q1 CONVENTIONS: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

- CIE Q1a 'how does your product use or challenge conventions'

OCR Q2 REPRESENTATIONS: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

- CIE Q1b 'how does it represent social groups or issues'

OCR Q3 DISTRIBUTION: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

- CIE Q2b 'how would it be distributed as a real media text'

OCR Q4 AUDIENCE: Who would be the audience for your media product?
OCR Q5 ATTRACT AUDIENCE: How did you attract/address your audience?

- CIE Q2a 'how does your product engage with audiences'

OCR Q6 TECHNOLOGIES: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

- CIE Q4 'How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?'

OCR Q7 DEVELOPMENT: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

- CIE Q3 'How did your production skills develop throughout this project?'