Scream queens appeal

Can anyone get me some episodes of the reality TV show "Scream Queens"?
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scream_Queens

Post titles + openings analyses

rem: keep these short enough to be fully visible in list of archive posts
+ make sure they describe whats in it: ANALYSIS OF JAWS for example is misleading: if you're analysing an opening, say so: ANALYSIS OF JAWS OPENING
if you're drafting the post: set it up, add post title, publish, edit and THEN add the word draft to title: that way the word 'draft' doesn't appear in the hyperlink for the post!
really, really push to use media lang + semiotic terms with these; consider representation too where you can, but critically: highlight what you'll take from this to use in your own (if nothing, state so!) at the top of the post
plus, as you go through them, compare with previous openings you've looked at, highlight similarities AND differences - doing this will arm you to take part in an informed discussion your group can film then edit as a slick vodcast (and nice prep for the Eval to boot)
finally: diegetic is NOT spelt with an A - easy, and common, mistake to make!


(btw, i calculate it took me just about 60secs to find, save and upload that jaws image - but it makes the blog look better, and isn't now something i might have to do repeatedly with this and other posts later to 'tart up' the blog...try to consistently do the same your good selves!)

Blog assessment

There's been a lot added to this (and other) blog(s) - make time to read through the material provided, and keep an eye on your blogger dashboard: as a follower of this blog you can click on this blog from the list of blogs you follow and you'll see all recent/new updates.
Your blogs will be assessed and fed back on next week - you have until Saturday night to add to/improve your blogs; they'll be marked on Sunday.
Do take the time to re-read the assessment criteria, and think about which aspects you are potentially hitting 'excellent' levels for ... and consider what to do for any you're hitting minimal/basic/proficient for!

Soundtracks

SEE ALSO PREVIOUS POST: Some Sound Advice, and note on boom

Although work on music especially can wait, you should be thinking about this; at least incorporating ideas about sound into your planning.
Each group should book time with John (for next week) to have looked at the software and process for creating your soundtracks.

If any of you are already adept at this, or play any instruments, I'd be grateful if you could identify yourself by commenting to this post!!! There is scope here to build up useful credit for future UCAS/job applications!

This can appear daunting, but every AS group, with or without prior experience of this, have done well with this, one of the hallmarks of the outstanding quality of IGS Media productions! Be thinking through ideas, and linking your ideas to existing examples.

A NOTE ON SOUND RECORDING

I've previously blogged on this, so I'll keep this brief.
If you solely rely on the sound picked up through the cameras you'll find that shots recorded mere seconds apart sound very different - the air/wind for example can be highly audible, not something you'll be aware of when filming!

SOLUTIONS?

You can tweak sound files using software.
You could use the boom mic and/or digital sound recorder
You could (this is probably the best approach) record sound as normal BUT also record separate sound, including ALL dialogue, sound effects and 'ambient' sound (general background noise). This could be a specific role for one or more person, and something for the producer to closely supervise!
As always, test/experiment to get a clear sense of this for yourself.

Casting and creativity

Casting is discussed in the coursework guide; your post/s on this should follow a range of steps, which you might do as separate posts:

The original scream queen: Janet Leigh

Final girl archetype 'Laurie Strode'

1. start out by describing your characters (if you have 10 characters provide 10 profiles/descriptions!): their look, clothing, attitude, gender, age, size, hair colour ... whatever seems relevant to the role. THIS IS YOUR IDEAL, IF YOU HAD 100s OF ACTORS APLYING FOR THE ROLE!
2. now consider (stereo)typical comparable characters in existing films (critically, providing still images and/or video clips to do so)
3. even if you are going for a COUNTERtypical approach, show your knowledge of the genre conventions before justifying your choice to go against/challenge the convention
4. have you backed up your claims/analysis of typical representation with references from websites AND books? to help get into the top marks range you should try to back up your analysis of the codes and conventions of genre/'existing texts' with book (or newspaper/journal) references as much as possible
5. if going for countertypes, explain why - perhaps linked into gender issues? either way, the theories associated with feminist film critics such as Barbara Creed and Laura Mulvey could be discussed here
6. having clearly set out what look you want, and shown you've thought through the semiotics of this (how the auidience might respond if they followed your preferred reading, but also considering possible negotiated/oppositional readings - perhaps for potential non-UK viewers not familiar with UK culture?), now discuss your casting process
7. of course, you may be limited in your choice here; provide stills/video of any casting session, and images of your actual cast, clearly identified as specific characters (repeat character details if this info is not in the same post)
8. does the look of any of these impact on your original ideas/intentions? maybe your scream queen is now sporting the conventional final girl look? have you made adjustments for this in your script/storyboard? can you think of any low-budget films you've seen where financial restrictions appear to have impacted on casting?
9. now you're ready to start shooting with your cast - think about their needs: build in rehearsal time (a good means of shooting video to show one of you taking on the directing role - perhaps the producer can be shot organising the casting?), provide with script/call sheets etc

You'll note the post is entitled casting AND creativity. Partially, and this is nothing to worry about, you may wish to make notes now for a long-distant A2 exam part of which asks you to analyse your own productions (its easy to forget the decisions you made so far in the future!). One possible topic there is 'creativity'. To finish up, a nice example from commercial casting, usually the preserve of specialist, qualified professionals (casting directors), of how random effective casting can be...
Towards the end of the video (can't embed it, follow the link) you'll see the contemporary auteur Darren Aronofsky discuss how a key supporting actress role was cast through iChat on a Mac (following lead actress Natalie Portman's recommendation of her friend)!
Watch the video at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2011/jan/18/darren-aronofsky-black-swan-interview 
I can't recommend watching some of this director's work highly enough - especially Requiem For a Dream, which introduced a range of cinematographic techniques widely copied ever since.

ADDITION, 20th JANUARY:

I'd forgotten about this article - click 'read more' or here for the article and comments on the Guardian site - which considers some infamous casting decisions, and contains nice footage of auditions. The concept of the commutation test, by the way, is commonly applied to casting; there are many web pages which consider some of the near misses where classic films have almost, usually due to some bone-headed studio executive, badly miscast key roles that went on to become iconic but which would have been fundamentally altered with a different actor. (basic eg: picture Arnold Schwarzenegger in any Hugh Grant romcom role...or vice versa! "I'll, um, gosh, be back" anyone?!)

Online comic

You might be interested in the comicbook series published online by Mr Wozencraft Jr.! In itself an illustration of how digital media continues to open media markets to Indie operators - the Dundee-based publisher DC Thomas (see wiki - an interesting company with a rather oddball history/outlook well covered in a variety of books) has had the UK comics market (US imports aside) sewn up for decades. Without the possibility of low-cost digital distribution/exhibition (and marketing) this would remain unchanged, given the high costs of printing, marketing and distributing a new comic book (in Media "barriers to entry" are one aspect borrowed from Economic thinking when considering media industries)

Remember, what you're currently engaging in would have been very different just a decade ago: you can create sophisticated, multimedia-rich blogs and self-publish your film work through YouTube, marketing it through the likes of Facebook (getting audience feedback as you go the same way, by inviting students from other schools to look and accessing strangers worldwide by posting on targeted forums too), even create and burn your own professional-looking DVDs! All very different from when Media coursework involved cumbersome VHS cameras and computers with less processing power than a typical contemporary mobile phone!!!

Promo page for a cheapo slasher

Useful to look at this, a promo page for a micro budget slasher. Sounds a nasty flick - compare your blogs to this real-world effort: which would do a better job at promoting a film?
http://www.filespie.com/films/5411/Kill-the-Scream-Queen.html

BARRED FROM EQUIP LOAN

Its very disappointing to be still chasing up some of you - (more A2 than AS to be fair!) - for those permission slips issued many weeks ago ... LAST YEAR.
Lets get these in today/tomorrow please!
Barred From Equipment Loan
I'll update once ALL are in

For your convenience - how easy is life made for you?! - here's the form lest you're at home and noting you've lost your copy...
Loaning Media Equipment - Guidelines Db Rev Jan2011

Comments

Please see earlier post on comments, and ensure you publish ALL of my comments - I've just seen one example of my advice being followed but my comment not published; the intention when I comment is that you always publish it

GROUPS + MACS

I've updated the earlier list - if your working title has changed, please let me know by commenting below.
I've also embedded, after the groups list, a grid showing where each group is saving their film work. You can do general viewing/blogging/research work on any spare machine, but must upload + edit using this Mac only. That will ensure that no more than 2 Media groups will be trying to access any Mac at any given time - as we near the deadline you'll often want to do some work in frees, lunch, after school etc, so this maximises the chances of the computer with your footage being free to use.
Check you've set up a folder on the external hard drive (Lacie) named:

2010-11 FORENAME FORENAME FORENAME (eg 2010-11 Gina Jess)

At least once a week, copy this onto the desktop as a backup.
If you have any other files on the desktop especially, please move them into this folder (each person can set up individual folders within this if they want to), and make sure you have emptied the trash from any completed projects to save hard drive space.

If the stolen Macs are replaced in time we can look at making further changes.

As G321 GROUPS 2010-11 as Single Names

F6 mac grid JAN 2011

Ben Rhydding

Can all those involved see me at the start of Tuesday lunchtime please, to work out who is going to edit/produce sleeve - and share info between those who went up and those editing - and for when
Please add a comment to denote you've read this and to confirm you're coming tomorrow!

UPDATE: Ben is to lead the editing effort, and Harry + Rob are producing a sleeve, aiming to finish for Friday 21st Jan!!

Creating a treatment UPDATED

UPDATE JAN 25TH:

I've added an eg from current AS Media below. Note the clear sub-headings, use of images, prominence of working title, names + blog/YouTube info!!! Also, images are pushed in neatly with text, not set out in an acre of white space!

UPDATE FEB 1ST:

I've tweaked this further. Please note the basic design features:

• large, prominent film title
• the word 'treatment' isn't used!
• font altered + increased for sub-headings, neatly worked in with paragraphs
• names, blog + YouTube URLs prominent
• group pic/s
• images flush in with text
• no chunks of white space at the bottom of pages
• use of text boxes to add info to pictures
• brief summary followed by more detail on some topics

Charlotte Faye Spotlight Love Treatment DB EDIT

Here's an example of a treatment for a music video by A2 Media students from another (award-winning) centre:

Initial Voodoo Child Treatment

Yours doesn't have to be like this, but should successfully enable anyone reading it to get the gist of what you're working on!

ASPECTS TO CONSIDER:

• WORKING TITLE: 
  
• THE GROUP: who's in it; any clear roles/specialisms/[relevant] interests? Include your blog URLs
• THE BRIEF: (create the opening 2mins of a new feature film, including titles and an original soundtrack)
  
• SYNOPSIS: in a sentence or 2, the essence of your film idea - MUST be brief!!! Start it off with a standalone sentence: ITS X MEETS Y, comparing yours to 2+ existing films
• TARGET AUDIENCE: who its aimed at + why
  
• GENRE: brief summary of key genre codes, conventions, practitioners, companies etc
• LINKS TO GENRE: (can combine with above) detail which films are influencing your work (be precise and specific)
• MISE-EN-SCENE: LOCATIONS, PROPS, COSTUMES, MAKE-UP ETC: Some detail on these, again highlighting links to industry practice (ie existing texts)
• CAST + CREW NEEDED: This is part of the reason I want these (so, yes, once completed email or pass to me on USB stick!): think about any roles, not just casting (perhaps composer, player of specific instrument/s, make-up etc), required. If your cast is sorted, great; provide images - either way, give brief profiles of the character role, using indicative images of egs from existing texts to illustrate what you're thinking of. Indicate deadlines for expressions of interest, and/or place/time for meetings (perhaps combine with other groups)
  
• CONTACT DETAILS: if you're after potential volunteer personnel they need to be able to contact you. You could as a group set up a new joint email account (simply share out the login details), which would look good if named after 1 of your companies! Use 1 of your personal emails if need be, but don't include any personal mobile nos. on this
  

Some tasks for week beginning Mon.10th

A few specific tasks to work on through this week:
READ COURSEWORK GUIDE: make sure you have a browse at the post below, with the cwk guide from last year; an updated version will shortly be printed for you
BROWSE/REVIEW PREVIOUS BLOGS: you've all done this in class, but have another look to remind and refresh yourselves, noting the range of content you see
FULLY UPDATE YOUR BLOGS!!!: quite a few of you aren't yet in the habit of blogging as you do specific tasks. Your blog (several do) should by now include some or all of the following:

• a wide range of openings analysed - including use of media language, embedded images/videos + hyperlinks, and clear links made to your own ideas (which can include early, but ultimately rejected ideas); 
• a breakdown of the group, including a photo of each and their media/technology/culture interests and skills; 
• your individual idea and info on how the pitch went + footage of the pitch; 
• the initial group idea and any subsequent changes/revsions/additions or even entirely new ideas; 
• specific research into your genre including a range of books, journal articles and web sources - you should add a separate links list or two from this; 
• links lists below your blog archive (look at the various themed links lists I include on blogs such as this and think of appropriate subjects for yours - a useful way to both generate multimedia content AND showcase research skills - hyperlinks to amazon entries for books you've used is one idea); 
• shots/footage of your location scouting; 
• an initial summary of which film/s most influence your idea, and how (be very specific); 
• initial storyboards - doesn't matter how rough; and feel free to add lots of handwritten notes - scan these in, and keep new posts with new storyboards; 
• casting - clear links to 'existing texts' through shots of relevant characters in other films that are close to the type your are hoping for, + footage of any casting session - add shots of actual cast once sorted!;
• swedes - most didn't in the end get this done because of the weather, but you can reflect on the pitching process, your research, and the planning that went into it;
• microdramas - embed and reflect on the evolution of your learning on media language, technology, planning, working in a group etc;
• prelims - embedded, and needs to be analysed in some detail - look at the Evaluation questions; tackle this in depth now and one of them will be a lot easier in a few weeks time!;
• target audience - who is your production aimed at; how can you justify this? There are several blog posts on this, and several pages in the coursework guide about this;
• test/sample footage - everyone is to have been on location, with or without final cast, and shot some sample scenes, not least to test out feasibility but also to see if any new ideas emerge whilst on location with a camera; embed and reflect, then add new posts on updated narrative/storyboard as necessary;
• schedule - do you now have a shooting schedule, written/typed into a call sheet, to share? Remember, you are partially assessed on 'time management'!;

So, does your blog include most of these features?

NEW TASKS FOR THIS WEEK
Having uploaded, edited, reviewed and blogged on your sample footage, plus any new storyboards/narrative synopsis, look to tackle the following during this week:

1. UPDATE BLOG: simply, bring your blog up to date!!!
2. PODCAST 1: No later than Friday of each week every group will add at least one podcast - which is a remarkably simple process! We'll discuss this in class.
3. PRODUCTION CO + DISTRIBUTION CO: at minimum come up with names + a concept for your company idents; look again at the idents showreel of past students' work for inspiration! Each group will work with John to master the specific software required for this; all need to be completed by Thursday 20th
4. FINAL IDEA: don't panic if you're still struggling to pin down the idea, but do ensure its 100% worked through and storyboarded by Friday at the latest. If you are still unsure, alert me at the start of the lesson and we'll go through it until sorted! This leads into a...
5. TREATMENT: partly to help with casting a 'treatment', a 1 or 2 page doc briefly summarising key points about your production (with prominent visuals!), is required by Friday (details below)
6. CASTING: Again, no later than Thursday 20th, but preferrably sooner than that, casting needs to be finalised - you need to leave at least 3 weeks for editing and Evaluations, so shooting must take place in the next 2-3 weeks! By the end of this week make sure your blog has a detailed post on cast + characters, with clear visual links made to existing films - this can include shots of binary opposites of what you're going for if you hope to use countertypes.
7. VIDEO IDEA1: Don't always use the written word for your posts!!! To access the marks for 'excellent' your blog MUST feature a range of videos made by yourself/group: eg film yourselves in a pseudo-studio set up discussing your genre in general, 1 aspect of it (killers, locations, teens, editing styles, use of sound etc), important + influential genre films, films which have most influenced your work etc etc etc Critically, you'd then edit in stills and/or clips (you can use the VLC Media Player, which is freeware, to capture short specific scenes or sequences from a DVD) so your audience isn't solely staring at your visages! 2-5 mins (or shorter) is the ideal. See http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.com/2010/10/being-creative-with-videos.html and the other links included in that post. So, for Friday, have at least a plan for one such vid, either individually or as a group.

2009-10 coursework guide

Still working on a revised version of this for photocopying (hopefully completed and distributed this upcoming week), but here's a detailed guide from last year:
Blog Course Work Checklist as Feb 2010 Compressed

use of cut 2 black/fade-in + hybridity

I highlighted this on an A2 blog; a trailer for a film which exemplifies the use of cuts to black and then fade-in, accompanied by an audio leitmotif (a recurring sound effect).
A trailer is a very different format from a film opening, but this example is also useful for how it highlights a recent trend - sparked by the zom-rom-com Shaun of the Dead and now, eventually, being picked up by Hollywood - of oddball hybrids: blending binary opposite genres with no seeming common ground.
If toiling still for ideas this could be fertile territory to consider.
The trailer is embedded below; an article with more examples can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2011/jan/07/week-in-geek-2011-preview

What do YOU make of this new move towards unconventional hybrids? Your comments, as always, welcomed

Your blog settings for COMMENTS

At various points your blogs are looked at and comments added; its vital you check your blog's settings so that each time I look to do this my time isn't wasted having to type in the captcha word. I'm going to cease commenting on any that don't remove this! You will also be looking for 'audience feedback', a key part of coursework assessment at both AS and A2, which I'll help with through the links set up with other centres across the UK - you don't want to be discouraging comments by leaving this on.
When logged in to your blog, clicking though DESIGN > SETTINGS > COMMENTS you should have your blog set up as in the screenshot below:

You'll note comment verification is left on - this ensures no idiotic or spam comments can appear; you will see any comment and then choose whether to publish or delete it. But word verification - which you yourselves find very annoying! - is turned off.

Critics v Popular Culture?

Brief article about the Twilight franchise picking up awards voted for by the US public (as did HSMusical); horror movies - especially teen-centred horror - tend to be dismissed as worthless, empty commercial vehicles by critics ... yet remain enduringly popular with the public. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/06/twilight-eclipse-peoples-choice-awards
This links into previous posts about female directors, and the prevailing scorn for female-targeted cultural forms: celeb mags, soap operas, rom-coms etc

2010-11 Groups

Here's a list of this year's groups, with genres and working titles. Feel free to share ideas, props, expertise with other groups working in your genre!
You could agree with another production group to look at and comment their blogs every week or so...lots of scope here to collaborate!
Looking forward to seeing these!
As G321 GROUPS 2010-11 as Single Names

Your pitches: footage!

I've just about finished going through these and cutting separate clips for each pitch (iMovie file on Mac5 desktop). You should now upload these to your blog in a post titled "My Pitch"
To do this you need to ...

1. create a new iMovie project
2. name it "[YourName] Pitch"
3. find your clip from the iMovie project "AS Pitches 13Dec2010"
4. drag and drop this into your new project file
5. drag this in your new project onto the timeline and export (full quality) to create a QuickTime movie
6. copy the film file onto your memory stick
7. close your iMovie project
8. drag both your project file and the exported film file into the "AS Pitches" folder on the desktop
9. upload your pitch using your YouTube channel, and...
10. embed into your blog post, adding detail of how you think the pitch went, and perhaps reflecting a little on the experience of pitching!

Next step is to create another blog post ("Group and initial idea") where you include a photo of your group and give their names, then outline (bullet points are fine) your initial idea from your early discussions

Well done to all of you - its not an easy thing to do, and you all coped admirably! A couple of questions arose during the filming of these: what is a working title; can we use any music of our choice? The answers...

A working title is not just the name of your main British film case study but a possible title given to a film project at any stage up to the release of trailers and the actual release; so Halloween had the working title Babysitter Murders, and Scream had the working title of Scary Movie!

You cannot use any copyright music ... but will be shown how to use Garageband on the Macs to create your own, and can record your own version of an existing track if you know any musician types! You can also effectively commission a musician (there are some very talented musicians and composers who study music at this school!) to create your soundtrack; crucially you'd have to evidence how you direct this work and instruct the composer on what you're after. Watch past AS work - most of these created their own, despite never having done anything like this before!

While I was working on your pitches footage I got an email which illustrates how ingrained the notion of pitching is within the film business (indeed, across the media and creative industries) ... note the last line from this extract!

Screen Yorkshire is seeking applications for TRIANGLE, a unique development opportunity aimed at fostering creative collaboration between feature film writers, directors and producers in the North of England. The scheme, a partnership between Screen Yorkshire, Vision + Media and Northern Film & Media with support from the Skillset Film Skills Fund, is open to all filmmakers based in Yorkshire and Humber, the North West and North East of England.

TRIANGLE is an extensive six-month mentoring initiative intended to support the development of writer-producer-director teams and new collaborative feature film projects. There will be a selection process throughout the programme, and the surviving teams will pitch the best projects to an industry panel in June 2011 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Loaning Media Equipment: Guidelines

Each of you will be issued with a copy of the document below to sign, show to (and discuss with) your parents, and return to me (once they're all in I'll photocopy and return them to you - please don't fold the sheet).
We have a lot of you seeking cameras at any one time, so need to make sure they're kept in constant circulation so everyone has fair and equal access and can plan shoots without having to worry about getting cameras.

As noted on the bottom of this, the 10 sets of earphones I bought just last year have all disappeared, so there will not be any to borrow - you really do need to bring your own set with you each day. You can buy basic earphones from £1.99 on Amazon.



Loaning Media Equipment - Guidelines (2)

Posters, DVD sleeve etc

Access guides at http://a2mediablogs.blogspot.com/2009/12/guide-to-posters-and-other-products.html

HurtwoodHouse students' productions

I've embedded below one example of coursework from this school; well worth looking at others - not least as each upload showcases the tools YouTube makes available to uploaders, tools which you should be using for your own coursework...

If you like any of these why not add a comment saying so? I'm sure you'll appreciate it when others do likewise for your upcoming masterpieces.
You can view their channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/hurtwoodhousemedia

Uploading your video work to date

Everything you've done on film so far should now be on your blog: microdrama, mise-en-scene task, swede (if done) and prelim. There should be a separate post for each ... with commentary and reflection on what you've learned from doing this. The idea of the blog is that it is a record of the learning that took place, reflecting how your knowledge and skill have developed over time; so try to ensure your blog posts are published in a logical order.

TIP: if you want to reorder posts open up two tabs; a 'New Post' in one and the edit window for an existing post; copy/paste across the post you want to be more recent, and delete the original post, if necessary, from within your list of posts.

There are many ways you can add video to your blog. Blogger itself has a video upload tool ... its rubbish; don't use it!!!
What you want to be doing is to upload your video to a hosting site such as YouTube and use the embed code that will be generated to include the video directly in your blog post. The principle is that anyone looking at your blog should be able to press play and watch the video - NOT have to go through to another website.
You can always look at my blogs, or past student blogs, to see what I mean here.

As you progress, you should be setting up your own individual YouTube channels - a very simple, quick process, but it looks slick! This will also enable you to easily seek audience feedback via Facebook and suchlike. For now, YouTube remains blocked in school - hopefully a situation which will change.
If you want to get all your current film files uploaded now, you can use the video upload site Vimeo - here's a link to an example: http://vimeo.com/13225587
You can see there is a button for embedding; you simply click on this, as with YouTube, copy the code and paste into your blog post; click publish and it will appear!

You should also be passing on a copy of your exported film files (this includes rough cuts when we get to that stage) so that they can be published on the IGSMediaStudies YouTube site, and screened in class for feedback (and entertainment!). Assuming we have all the files, you'll get a chance to watch back all the work done so far by yourselves and the other class on the last day (actually the Thursday for 12A!).

Swede task/prelim: update

Unfortunately, given the weather and subsequent disruption, we've had to sidestep the swedes (though one group did film theirs - well done!).

Our immediate focus then is getting the prelim task shot, edited and uploaded

For anyone who missed the lessons where the pitching was done, a summary follows.
We also did a brief follow-up task:

• create a new blog post entitled: "The Prelim Task"
• find and write/copy in the prelim task (or 'exercise') exactly as the exam board describe it (you have this on paper but can also find it in this blog)
• create 3 new paragraphs, using the 3 technical terms (all aspects of the continuity editing style [aiming to making the editing effectively invisible; not drawing attention to it]) as sub-headings
• add a definition for each of these terms
• if you're still not 100% clear on what any of these terms mean, and what that means you have to do, make sure to ask in class!!! (you could also try looking at past blogs)

You must incorporate this prelim task, and every part of what it specifically asks you to do, within your swede (otherwise separately film this prelim), providing specific timings from your finished swede where each aspect of the prelim exercise occurs within your swede so that the examiner (and I!) can quickly and easily confirm this has been done.

We also made note of how this prelim task is linked later on to the Evaluation task: re-read the 7 questions you must answer for the Eval to see what this link is, and why its important you take detailed notes and provide a detailed blog post on the process behind your swede/prelim.

If anyone who hasn't been in wants to arrange a swede with some others listed as absent, get in touch! You could also contact those in an existing group to see if you can work within their idea. Cameras will be available to sign out for Wednesday to Monday, which should provide plentiful time to film your footage - tho' be mindful of the issues raised by the snow (and it getting dark early).

As 2010-11 Swedes Groups

THE BRIEF, EVALUATION + HOW ITS ALL MARKED

THE BRIEF

Your mission is to carry out the following brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

PRODUCTION: 60%

EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

EVALUATION

Even before you start shooting (let alone planning) your production, you need to keep this final stage in mind. If you start (b)logging notes on this now it will save you a lot of stress as the final deadline (in May!) approaches. You are tasked with answering these questions (see below for details on how this is marked):

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

• Who would be the audience for your media product? 

• How did you attract/address your audience? 

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

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

HOW ITS ALL MARKED [ie THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA]

When I'm marking all this, I've got to write a paragraph for the exam board justifying the marks I've given you. The grid embedded below summarises the criteria I have to follow, and so you're advised to occasionally re-read this and ask yourself where you think you'll fall within the marking scheme!
For each section there are key components of the work which I have to assess as being one of the following:

MINIMAL
BASIC
PROFICIENT

EXCELLENT

If you think you're currently at the 'minimal' or 'basic' level for any of these, ask yourself (and me!) what you can do to jump up to at least proficient.
G321 AS CWK Markscheme on 1pg DB

Mise-en-scene decon task

Partially to get us all thinking about the conventions of film openings, you will be formed into pairs and given one horror film to analyse. Specifically, you will be examining how it has used mise-en-scene to signify (communicate to the audience) aspects of the film's narrative. Information filmmakers provide to the audience by whatever means (sound, dialogue, titles, mise-en-scene etc) is termed exposition.
Each opening will be screened, accompanied by your pair's analysis.

Carefully selected m-en-s + framing signifies a stalker's POV

A key part of the research and planning will be scrutinising a wide range of actual examples of openings within your genre; this doesn't have to be horror but we'll stick with one genre for this exercise - the range of screenings should enable you to decide whether or not you've got the stomach to scrutinise the construction of scenes of gore!
To build on this, you will be working in pairs or more to create a text where you rely on mise-en-scene to communicate to your preferred reading to the audience - this is detailed in a separate post.

Once you have a horror film to analyse, research + make note of the following (using IMDB.com):

1. Director + year of release
2. Budget (if available)
3. Box office takings (US, UK, as available)
4. Has there been a remake of this film? (note director, year)
5. Is this part of a film franchise (ie, have there been sequels - if so, how many films in the series to date?)

Once you've explored the basic institutional backdrop to the film (you could also look into the production + distribution company/ies if you wish, ascertain if its an Indie release or from a Hollywood studio, one of the 'Big 6'), its time to turn a more semiotic eye onto the text, especially how meaning has been encoded + communicated to the audience through shot selection and choice of mise-en-scene. Note though that the context can be very significant for the meaning, or reading (Stuart Hall's [preferred/negotiated/oppositional] readings theory). Address the following in your analysis of the opening (these points overlap):

1. How has the time period been signified? Consider the concept of zeitgeist.
2. How has the location been signified? (Consider if this is small town, city, rural, suburban etc and what this might mean or signify)
3. Has social class or status been signified?
4. Discuss clothing/costume codes, and hair/make-up.
5. How does mise-en-scene enable us to connote the different characters' likely roles within the narrative? (You could employ Propp and/or Levi-Strauss here)
6. What can we tell about the (dis-)equilibrium from the mise-en-scene (all the above points form part of this)
7. What expectation do we have of the film's narrative from this?
8. How has the genre been signified? (Props, objects?)
9. Whatever the scenario and genre, how has verisimilitude been achieved?
10. Do you think this film employs mise-en-scene skilfully ... or perhaps clumsily?

We're not necessarily looking for a PowerPoint on this; if you can communicate your findings quite fluently from memory and some looking up of notes, thats absolutely fine. Write up all your findings in a blog post entitled M-en-S of [Film Title] Opening. Strive to use terminology where you can - eg, if you consider the use of mise-en-scene to be clumsy, lazy or weak, you're taking a negotiated or oppositional reading of the text (Stuart Hall's theory of the 3 levels of reading a text), not following the preferred reading.

Mise-en-scene practical task

PITCHING + FILMING A 30-60secs FILM OPENING USING MISE-EN-SCENE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE AUDIENCE

Mise-en-scene is one of the 4 technical areas you're asked to analyse for the TV drama exam question, and is also of course a key part of your coursework planning. For this exercise we'll be working mainly without sound.

You're tasked with thinking up an idea for a brief sequence (30-60secs) to open a film - within any genre you like - relying on shot selection and mise-en-scene to communicate your idea to the audience; pitching your idea to the class; whoever can attract a team to shoot their idea then produces the opening with this team on Friday/over the weekend for rapid editing and screening early next week. We will look at several openings in class time.

PREPARING YOUR PITCH IS HOMEWORK FOR FRIDAY!

If you're unclear on any aspect of this, including the many terms used below, ask in class!!!

The Terminator spoke just 17 words in the original film

In essence, this task is simple: plan and shoot material for a 30-60sec sequence which will provide exposition for the audience on various aspects of the narrative. However, you must achieve this with no more than 17 words, without music, and rely primarily on your selection and manipulation of mise-en-scene to achieve this.
Why 17 words? This is how many words were used by the antagonist in the entirety of one of the most iconic sci-fi/action movies, James Cameron's early breakthrough film, who is now a politician in California. So its actually quite a generous number!
You will each come up with a pitch, outlining and selling your idea to the class in no more than 30 seconds (you will be timed!), hoping to convince several to sign up to your creative vision in a cut-throat free market of blue-sky thinking...

Make sure your idea is achievable!!! 

Your scene should be designed to be part of a film opening; don't worry about not squeezing in all the detail an audience needs to grasp the full narrative; you would most likely need more than the permitted 30-60secs to do this.

(A 'pitch' is an occasion when film producers briefly summarize their proposal for a film to busy film company executives, in the hope of attracting funding for production and/or distribution. Many small British companies and filmmakers will pre-sell distribution rights to their film to European countries in order to fund production. It is always a sales pitch!)

Read more on pitching: hubpages.com guide; actor Peter Capaldi; wiki; ehow.com.  

WHAT AM I TRYING TO SIGNIFY

In the filmed piece you will be aiming to enable your audience to understand and recognise the following aspects of your narrative:

1. setting: time period (give consideration to zeitgeist)
2. setting: place/location
3. character/s: an/protagonist; Proppian archetypes?
4. (dis-)equilibrium; perhaps some foreshadowing of how the narrative will develop
5. genre/s (perhaps a hybrid genre, or a sub-genre?)
6. also: which props/items/details provide verisimilitude?

When thinking about equilibrium you are also thinking about character/s: what is their situation? Their age? Where do they live? Are they popular (jocks?) or outsiders (nerds?!) for example? Live at home? Single? Have job? Hobbies?! Nursing a broken heart/popular with the ladies/lads? Provide some idea in addition to 'this is the good/bad guy'!

The hope is that we will have 3 or 4 groups in each class, with filming taking place on Friday/weekend.

Mise-en-scene incorporates clothing/costume; hair + make-up; objects and props; location in general: house, trees ...
Think about how John Carpenter uses a detached house to signify a sense of vulnerability and isolation, even in the middle of a nice suburban neighbourhood - the inclusion of trees, and the shadows they cast, is an important factor in selecting this particular house for the opening scene of Halloween (1978). Small details also count: the chair on the porch and the pumpkin lantern; the old-fashioned clock and the candles on the table ... and then there's the boyfriend putting his top back on, visual shorthand for 'sex has just taken place'!
In Bride of Chucky (Ronny Yu, 1998) we get a range of details denoting police force before we get to see the victim in full (costume and props within this to provide verisimilitude ... plus a police car!). The smaller details you can replicate: labels stating 'evidence' for example. We also pan across a range of objects (eg Jason mask) in the evidence locker which clearly signify slasher, the more supernatural end of slasher, to the audience (provided they have enough familiarity with these films to be able to follow the preferred reading [Stuart Hall's concept], which relies on intertextual references). Then there's the nightime setting, lighting, weather, use of low and dutch angles...

Last word on pitching...
Most of you will be familiar with The Apprentice, which seems to feature a bunch of cretins proving how awful they are at business and dealing with human beings. Each week they have to pitch to sell some product ... and thats exactly what you're doing: selling your idea. Here's an example from The Apprentice:

And here's a satire on pitching - NB: contains some strong language

Being creative with videos

Excellent bit of work here from Chris Lawrence, co-director of last year's highest-rated AS production. This kind of approach not only works well within a main blog, but can be used creatively within a subsidiary blog (named something such as '[your film title]film', eg mistakefilm.blogspot.com) set up just as many film companies now do to promote the film. This could feature cast + crew interviews, 'exclusive' bonus clips ... and even a competition to produce a music video using the footage supplied on this blog!!!
If you want further inspiration, read http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.com/2010/03/art-of-vodcast.html and http://asmediafilmopening.blogspot.com/2010/05/using-videos-within-evaluation.html
Nice!

Press on AS work at festival

Press coverage on successful entries from IGS Media students for 2009 film festival: http://www.advertiserseries.co.uk/archive/2009/10/08/News+%28school_news%29/4671058.Ilkley_students__films_are_being_shown_at_festival/
Press coverage on successful entries from IGS Media students for 2010 film festival: http://www.advertiserseries.co.uk/news/8394869.Festival_date_for_budding_film_makers/

Press coverage on successful entries from IGS Media students for 2011 film festival.....

Starting on iMovie

Having shot your first footage as Media students its time now to begin learning and practicing how to edit this using iMovie!

In this instance John has uploaded your footage onto two Macs, enabling each group to work in 2s/3s to produce TWO versions of your microdrama. We've done this to give you a full three lessons before Friday to edit your first masterpiece, but usually you will upload any footage yourself.

As powerful as it is, iMovie is brilliantly designed by the company that offers you iLife on the Mac (and brought you the iPod, iPhone and now iPad) to be relatively easy to learn. Indeed, Apple are such nice guys they've only gone and provided a series of how-to videos that will get you started!
...
There are some initial, prepatory steps we will take before commencing editing though:

STEP 1: (RE)LOCATE FOOTAGE

1. Open iMovie!
2. Check that it is iMovie 06, and not iMovie 08 (which wasn't an upgrade, but a dumbing down!) - if in doubt check with John
3. Create a folder on the Lacie drive to save your work in; we try to keep all files on these as otherwise the Macs begin to work slowly. Even though you're working in a pair/three, name this folder 2010 SurnameInitial, eg 2010 BurrowesD (each of you can copy the completed, edited movie file at the end)
4. Find the iMovie project file John has created for you and move this into your new folder
5. Rename it - ask if unsure how to! - 2010 Microdrama ForenameInitial ForenameInitial, eg 2010 Microdrama DaveB JohnC
6. Doubleclick on your file, saved in a folder on the Lacie drive and renamed by now, to open it in iMovie, and...
7. Pause! If you've got this far, offer a hand to anyone else who hasn't!

By the end of Thursday's lesson you will have edited and then 'exported' your microdrama; this means that before you go you will have passed on to John or myself a movie file (NOT an iMovie project file - the difference will become clear!) for screening on Friday.

There is a follow-up written homework for completion over half-term (details will appear on this blog shortly), so it is vital you each have with you your own USB memory stick for Thursday!!! You will need to be able to access your microdrama to analyse it.

STEP 2: DEONOTATION OF FOOTAGE
Before we start work on editing your footage you need to review your footage and list the shots you have. Many of you took additional, unplanned shots when out filming - which is a good thing to do (in the film biz this is known as 'coverage') - so your storyboards and shotlist/call sheet won't be fully accurate. Just using plain pen and paper, one person control the playback of the clips and another write down the brief denotation of each shot, eg

POST-16 CENTRE, DONOR PASSES ON MAGIC OBJECT:

LS
MS of donor
OTS of hero
MCU of donor
ECU of [magic object]

You can always swap roles half way through, so you each take on scribe duties and get to use the playback tools on iMovie. Ask if you're unsure how to playback the clips in iMovie.

STEP 3: 5MINS TO DO ROUGH STORYBOARD
Take no more than 5 minutes now and try to work out a rough shot order, which will probably include some cross-cutting, where you break up one whole shot by inserting other shots in between. Don't agonise over it! It will help to have an idea of how it will finally look before starting to edit though, and this will help you to familiarise yourselves with your footage. 

TIP: In any production where you've more time, you can rename each clip making it easier to find specific shots.

STEP 4: MOVE ON TO iMOVIE MOVIES!

If there is space you could do Step 4 on a Mac beside you, so you can easily refer to the webpage and videos whilst also looking at your work in iMovie.

Click through on http://www.apple.com/support/ilife/tutorials/imovie/ 
You should see the page for iMovie 06 tutorials pictured. If not, simply google 'imovie 06 tutorial' and you will see apple.com results near the top. 
You can start from the very beginning if you wish, but I suggest you skip straight to "Arranging your clips"
Watch at least one before going on to...

STEP 5: HOLLYWOOD BEWARE - COMMENCE EDITING!
Having looked at at least one of the how-to videos (each web page contains text summarising the content of these too), have a go now at editing!

Be brave and try to work out problems yourselves before asking for help!

Start by dragging your clips down to the timeline in the rough order they'll appear in. You can then start on 'trimming' these (getting rid of the unwanted parts, dragging these back up to the clip sorter if you wish). For any shot you intend to cross-cut with, see if you can find the split clip tool which makes one shot into 2 or more.
Make sure you keep swapping over so that you're each getting time controlling the editing!!!

TIP: Click SAVE frequently!!! Any software can crash, and if you don't keep saving your project you risk losing all your work - believe me, it happens!!!

STEP 6: EXPERIMENT WITH SOUND, FX & TRANSITIONS
This is your 1st ever go with iMovie; experiment with its features. Do you want to add some music? You can include an MP3 you bring in or some of the many audio clips contained in iMovie. Also have a look at the many FX and transitions options available.
You're not being assessed on the production so have fun with it!
However ... you will be asked to deconstruct your debut production, which will be much, much easier if you keep brief notes as you go on WHY you made your decisions: why that MCU? why cross-cut? why use the wipe transition? why use slo-mo? what was the Napalm Death soundtrack intended to signify (and for what target audience)? You can either photocopy any notes within your pair/trio or each take the same notes as you go!!!
You'll find as you progress in Media Studies this question of WHY is central! Whether its considering why a UK TV drama has used certain shots and audio or justifying your own creative choices (and with the British Cinema exam question extending this to consider economic, technology and other contextual factors), we're always striving to put behind us our past of passively consuming the media.




STEP 7: EXPORT + GET MOVIE FILE TO ME/JC 
Almost there...
Having completed your first production to your satisfaction (perhaps having used frees/lunch etc to do so!), you need now to create a file that will play on any computer and can even be uploaded to YouTube and other such sites. If you look in your folder on the Lacie drive you'll see its icon is a black star. This represents an iMovie project file, which can only be used within Apple's video editing software.
So you need to 'export' your project as QuickTime file - it is this that you can put on a memory stick and take home, or even burn onto a DVD for playing on a TV set! You can follow Apple's guide here, but its simple enough...

Click FILE
Choose EXPORT
By default this will show the QuickTime option, which is what you want.
Select FULL QUALITY - CD quality means a file size no larger than 700MB. WEB quality means a very small file size, perhaps for your mobile phone, Facebook or blog where its a long movie.
Give it the same name as your project file: 2010 Microdrama ForenameInitial ForenameInitial, eg 2010 Microdrama DaveB JohnC

This can take 5-10 mins depending on the size of the project, so make sure you leave enough time to create it AND get a copy to me or JC! (Not forgetting to have your own copy on a memory stick before we finish on Friday!)


STEP 8: DECONSTRUCTION + REFLECT ON LESSONS

So, thats your first step on the path to Media greatness! Its important to reflect on what you've learnt about the film-making process though, and also to practice applying some of the many terms and concepts we've already touched upon in the course, including narrative, shot types and semiotics generally. I'll add details in a separate post later, but be prepared to blog on your work on this for returning after the half-term break (you could work on this before we finish on Friday if you're organised to ensure a nice chilled out break!)