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?'

Coursework PITCHES

As part of the ongoing effort to simplify and streamline, I've put the key points into a Word doc, but there's a lot more in this post and others linked below.

AS pitch preparation from DB3igs

Every post on genre (so therefore also the whole DBHorror blog too!) is useful for this; definitely read this post for one.

You will be filmed pitching. The footage is mainly for your benefit; one of the many multimedia features your blog will be able to boast. You can find footage from past pitches + the Q+A that followed on some past student blogs.

Following Qs from 2010 pitches, I wrote this post answering Qs about 'working titles' and use of copyright music. You can also find commercial filmmakers using YouTube to pitch.

If your pitch isn't of satisfactory quality you will be barred from working with anyone else, a serious disadvantage. You will be asked to re-pitch.
You won't be allowed more than one mouse click - any supporting visual/audio aids need to be put into one video or Ppt file (animated, self-timed if Ppt). You can if you wish pre-record your pitch and play this vid as your pitch!

TIME: 90secs
Its easy to caught out with this, and fail to deliver your full pitch with your timing you should practice your timings!!!
Think carefully about what to include, and what to exclude; you don't want to rush through everything and lose impact. Equally, it will look rather bad if you finish 45secs in.

FORMAT: verbal pitch

OPENING EG: Billy Elliot TBC

I'll set this out as you might if doing a detailed single-film analysis. In future I'd start just by copy/pasting the formatted text/links from this post, so I don't need to waste time re-doing formatting that I've already done (just change the link/text).

Billy Elliot

Stephen Daldry, 2000 (BBFC 15)

# OF IDENTS + OPENING DURATION: 2  4:41

• PRODUCTION: BBC Films, Tiger Aspect Pictures, Working Title Films
• DISTRIBUTION: Universal Pictures, Focus Features

CRITICS: RottenTomatoes.com 85%; IMDB 7.7; Roger Ebert 3*.

BUDGET: £3m;   BOX OFFICE: UK £73m    US $22m    World: $109m

LINKS: Wiki; YT trailer; IMDB; boxofficemojo. Universal site. WT page. WT musical page. Guardian.

1: IDENTS
1st: Universal. 20secs

The classic ident. Notably longer as the parent company of WT/StudioCanal. Orchestral music, especially brass. Quite sophisticated CGI for revolving globe. Prominent URL. Fades in/out.

2nd: StudioCanal 15secs

Missing the usual audio. Relatively simple text FX only. Fades out.

Notable that the actual main production company (WT/WT2) gets no ident

2: AUDIO, MUSIC

DDD

3: TITLES

See below (1st SHOT) for the opening intertitle, a small, plain sans-serif font, all upper case and white on a black background, clearly connoting serious drama rather than comedy, and perhaps an odd choice if a young audience is really the core target audience. That young audience are unlikely to grasp the significance of the 'Durham Coalfield, North East England, 1984' - placing the film in the midst of the bitter miners' strike which saw a right-wing government (Thatcher) seek to brutally smash the trade unions.

Titles appear in this order. Timing is irregular: there is a lengthy gap between titles 2 and 3.

WORKING TITLE FILMS

AND BBC FILMS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ARTS COUNCIL OF ENGLAND PRESENT [over 3 lines]

A TIGER ASPECTS PICTURES PRODUCTION

4: 1^ST SHOT

We 1st get an inter-title anchoring the time + place, for 6secs

Immediate social realist conventions. Older UK viewers would recognise the time and place as linked to the miners' strike

When the hands come into focus the short nails are evident

We fade in from 0:42 to an incredibly long take of a CU of a record player and a pair of hands picking up an LP and sliding the (T. Rex, 70s glam rock, so likely the boy's parents' record - and the sleeve is well worn to denote it as an older record) record out, putting it on, and bringing the needle over - initially to the wrong place. Diegetic sound only until this take finally ends, though while we can see the legs jumping there is no clear diegetic sound of any trampoline/bed or simply jumping and landing, so we effectively end up without diegetic sound once the record has started playing.

The framing use of focus creates ambiguiety over gender identity: we can't see shorts or skirt, or footwear, clearly enough

The only initial signifier of gender is the very short nails, though the shallow field of focus means the character's legs and clothing/footwear are difficult to distinguish when the unidentified character dances. The use of the T Rex album cover reinforces the impression that androgyny is being connoted, glam rocker Marc Bolan being quite an effeminate figure. 

The record sleeve is worn; its a 70s record (so the boy's parents'); Bolan was androgynous...

the androgynous 70s glam rocker Marc Bolan

shot 2: very tight, shallow focus

Shot 2 gives us a slo-mo CU of his face with a very tight, shallow focus on his face, the slo-mo helping to create an immediate link between dancing and pleasure for this character and perhaps signifying he is a bit of a dreamer. The song lyric, I was dancing when I was 12, again suggests dancing is a key theme - and the focus will be on the young boy as the central protagonist, a smart means of providing this exposition.

The tight physical space of the room also denotes a working class home, as does his simple short, back and sides haircut. 

The take continues to 1:23, an unusual 41sec opening take.

5: MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION

6: NARRATIVE/PROTAGONIST

7: AUDIENCE + REPRESENTATION

8: GENRE SIGNIFICATION

9: TRANSITION TO MAIN FILM

10: EXCEPTIONS/UNCONVENTIONAL EXAMPLES

SFX Create your own gore, masks etc

There are many others out there, but here's a teen YouTuber who looks beyond lippie {she notes the stick she gets for not sticking to girlie stereotypes} and aspires to Tom Savini status. If you don't know who Savini is you're clearly not working on a horror opening...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEngAKyn-q6tAB_arpzbXSg

Health and safety post

Blog.

You've been asked (for months!) to do a health and safety check. Time now to finally sort that out. You should consider what post date you use [click on SCHEDULE under the LABELS box on the right before publishing your post]; this should be evidenced PRIOR TO SHOOTING.

The idea is simple. As is legally required of professional shoots, where companies are legally liable for employees' well-being/welfare (the whole coursework is designed to reflect industry practice), your company needs to evidence its consideration of possible risks from the shoots ... a risk assessment.

POST TITLE: Risk Assessment

The idea is very simple. Go through each location, including transport to and from and any catering (food/drinks), think through the possible risks, and briefly state how you will minimise or counter these risks, including communication to cast/crew/public. Below you can see a few snapshots of student examples:

Conventions vodcasts

This is one of the most important coursework tasks. You're marked not just on the level of your research but also how you APPLIED this research. There is no upper limit on how many texts you could/should look at. You needn't always do so in great detail - it is very useful to pick out a single topic and look at multiple (always try for at least 5) examples on this.

Multiple mini-vodcasts on single topics are even better than main (separate) general and genre conventions vodcasts. Main vodcasts should be close to 10mins if a good level of research is being presented, while mini vodcasts (based on the usual approach of identifying 10 themes or sections) might be snappy 1min productions.

I have summed up what makes a good vodcast here.

Before going any further, have a look at the guide post for your Evaluation ('Explanation' in CAIE speak) question 1. If your work is high quality now, this task will be MUCH easier to do and do well.

There are guides for all Eval Qs, including Q1a (I suggest splitting it into 2). It really is helpful being aware of these from the start, as blogging along the way should make these much easier to tackle successfully.

...

STORYBOARD tips

http://nofilmschool.com/2017/08/here-are-some-things-you-should-ask-yourself-storyboarding

TEMPLATES 99 professional downloadable files

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/08/grab-every-filmmaking-form-youll-ever-need-these-99-free-templates

Final Cut Pro X

You can find a vodcast for getting started, and multiple links for further exploration, in this post on the MediaTechTips blog, where I gather material on software and hardware, including guides on techs to consider for your Evaluation (part of the markscheme)

Analysing film openings - a short guide

There is a much longer version - it was linked in the top links list which a google bug has wiped, along with all my other 100+ lists across multiple blogs.

When blogging on an opening, set out the key contextual, institutional info using appropriate size, colour, font variation for the most important details, and hyperlinking relevant links:

• movie name
• director
• year of release (typically in 1 line: This is England (Meadows, 2006)
• main (co-)production company/ies
• UK, US distributor
• budget
• UK, US, world box office
• ratings on IMDB, rottentomatoes or others
• length of opening

Once you've completed your analysis, post a summary above your main blog text, but below the institutional info, with a CAPS sub-heading like POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE (specific details or techniques that might influence YOUR production). This helps to show you're applying research (a key term in the markscheme).

You will be creating a vodcast on GENERAL CODES + CONVENTIONS OF FILM OPENINGS using 5 detailed examples, though you may want to refer to additional examples (eg look at more examples of opening shots).

Consider the following as key themes to address in a detailed analysis of a film opening. You should highlight specific media terminology in bold pink, helping it to stand out. Apply the exam markscheme to make sure you always clearly evidence a point, often with a screenshot (which you might use in vodcasts and your Evaluation):

THE OPENING SHOT
One of the two most important shots (along with the final shot before you transition into the main movie) in your own production, so look closely at the choices made.

FINAL SHOT AND TRANSITION TO MAIN MOVIE


NARRATIVE: TODOROV, BARTHES, LEVI-STRAUSS
Discuss how the opening fits in with Todorov's 5-part narrative structure; if narrative enigma is employed (one of Barthes' concepts); if there are clear binary opposites (Levi-Strauss).

CHARACTERS (PROPP) + COSTUME/MAKE-UP
Are any characters signified as any of Propp's archetypes (sometimes combining 2 or more)? How? Be specific on the semiotics of the clothing, make-up etc - when producing YOUR film opening you need to evidence careful consideration of and control over this, not simply shooting your cast in the clothes/look they happen to be wearing.
You could fit this point into many of the headings below (editing, narrative etc), but think very carefully about how shot selection, framing, editing and sound all combine to signify any particular character as a probable (central) protagonist (or antagonist). There is often some narrative enigma, but typically we will follow one character through editing.

MISE-EN-SCENE: SETS, COSTUME, PROPS
Costume and make-up is also m-e-s, I'm just separating these to help focus on how visual signifiers communicate more than the script (if done right). Denote (describe, detail) the choices made and discuss WHY these might have been chosen: what are the connotations; what reading might this suggest to the audience? Is verisimilitude achieved?

SOUND + EDITING
Its usually best to consider these two things together, though you don't need to try and link every point you want to make. These are 2 of the 4 technical areas you need to analyse in the exam essay on TV Drama (camera work and mise-en-scene are the others; you also have to discuss representations). Think not just about diegetic sound but specifically ambient sound, perhaps exaggerated diegetic sound. Music, non-diegetic or not, is always important to consider - and will be crucial for YOUR film to be convincing. Think about how the music is trying to manipulate the audience's mood, as well as their sympathy or empathy for any characters.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: FRAMING, SHOT VARIETY
Look closely at how shot variety is achieved - this will be a crucial factor in marking yours. Think about framing and what has been selected and what rejected or not shown (back to mise-en-scene again!). You could use shorthand for shot types/angles to help denote the variety, eg:

ELS into OTS MLS; ECU; M2S; OTS MCU then 5 shot reverse shot sequence before a cutaway ECU of protagonist's hand...

TIP: You can combine screenshots using Photoshop (or simply Word, Publisher or other - and screenshot this in turn to quickly create an embeddable image).

GENRE + INTERTEXTUALITY
Overlapping with many of the other categories above, so if you think this is clearly covered, then just focus on intertextuality (where meaning is linked to other existing texts). It is important to address genre - often genreS, with hybridity common.

TITLES
Don't underestimate the detail needed on this!!!
Browse the titles tag on my AS Coursework blog, or just this single post on Pretty in Pink for example.
tbc

Preliminary task and practice exercises

ABOVE: An example of a prelim video from 2016

This is a simple initial practise exercise to help you develop skills in camera usage, planning and editing. To complete the 'prelim' (preliminary) task, you need to complete the following steps....

1: DEFINE 4 TERMS - add to your THEORIES/TERMS I've learnt post: 

• MATCH-ON-ACTION
• SHOT/REVERSE SHOT
• 180 DEGREE RULE
• CONTINUITY EDITING

You can do this by using past student blogs and/or asking me...

2: STORYBOARD

Between 10-16 shots only. The scenario is this: character A walks towards the B122 door from the corridor, pauses, slowly opens it. Cut to inside the room. S/he walks to character B and stands/sits. They have some back and forth dialogue (include the script in the storyboard). The end!

Clearly DENOTE the shot type (framing, eg LS; angle, eg HA; movement, eg whip pan), dialogue. Any key props can be written on, don't waste time on beautiful drawing! 

3: FILM ... QUICKLY!

We'll use handheld or monopod to make this quick. Focus on giving clear, precise directions, and tick off storyboard shots as they're done. Shoot quickly - we're not too concerned with making the world's greatest film scene...

4: EDIT!

Each share the footage + do your own edit on FCPX. Make a note of any specific tips/tools you've learnt in the back of your small notebook. When done, share in FCPX and upload to YouTube - set to unlisted or public, NOT private!!! Embed into your PRACTICE PRODUCTIONS including PRELIM post.

(longer previous guide continued below)

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PRELIM (purpose: initial camera, tripod practice + learning continuity shooting/editing techniques)

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.

When blogging on PRELIM remember to:

BLOGGING DESIGN box office example

Through my British Cinema blog you can find a links list on box office, a key topic for coursework and exam research alike. There are many great resources on this, including American sources like Variety and the site boxofficemojo.

For this example I'll use Charles Gant's fantastic weekly UK box office analysis. If you routinely read this you'll build up a much wider knowledge than your teacher can hope to provide directly, and will over time take on industry terms and concepts.

Below is how I'd blog on this, then a breakdown of what design decisions/blogger tools I've applied.

Charles Gant's latest UK box office review.

Clarke's surprise 2008 hit

BROTHERHOOD, A RARE INDIE SUCCESS: NOEL CLARKE NOW A MARKETABLE BRAND?
British producers struggle in the face of the 'big six' dominance, unable to approach the tentpole $100-300m budget level of the Hollywood conglomerates when only two films have ever made £100m+ at the UK box office. When you add the social realist genre to the mix, typically lacking any major stars and providing the opposite of the feelgood narrative that dominates US cinema (still the biggest cinema market, though China will soon top it, so vital for film producers to aim for), box office success is unlikely.

Even getting a limited theatrical release is beyond most UK social realist films. There are always exceptions, and Noel Clarke, like Shane Meadows, has become an auteur brand that will attract an audience:

Eight years ago, Noel Clarke’s Adulthood stunned the UK film industry when it debuted in the UK with £1.20m from 157 cinemas, on its way to a total of £3.35m. This represented a big jump up from the success of Kidulthood from 2006, and set a high commercial bar for the British urban drama. [Gant]

Star Trek box office audience statistical analysis

This post focuses on the LA Times' box office coverage, which provides very specific audience breakdown and analysis.

The headline above is from Gant's column on the UK box office, matching a more common downbeat view on the film's fortunes and prospects (its still on wide release), noting:

Star Trek Beyond may have suffered from director JJ Abrams’ exit into rival franchise Star Wars (he remains as producer). Or fans might have been more excited by Benedict Cumberbatch as the main villain last time around, with Beyond baddie Idris Elba less proven at the box office. And Paramount may have struggled to persuade broader audiences to see a third Star Trek film.

Critics and audiences have been highly positive, but the film has failed to crossover to a wide US or UK audience (RT)

BoxOfficeMojo provide a comparison of all 13 movies in the franchise; the current release needs a major boost from China and elsewhere to ensure the franchise will continue to ... live long and prosper

The various box office columns (global, US, UK) in the Guardian make for great reading and will teach you a lot about how the industry works, and provide very specific examples that might help you in exam and/or coursework efforts. Variety and many others also provide in-depth, highly informed analysis and commentary - you can keep an eye on these by adding RSS feeds to your own blogs.

This example is from the LA Times, which you'd expect to be highly versed in industry practice as Hollywood is in its turf. The fragment I picked out below comments on:

Filmmaker talks STRESS and TEAMWORK

The question is not whether filmmaking is stressful. It’s how you’re going to deal with the stress when it inevitably comes your way. Stress is a physiological survival mechanism. It’s our body’s way of telling us to run away from dinosaurs and hide in a cave. But it’s also philosophical ⎯ it’s something we can overcome. Some of the most productive, well-respected filmmakers in the world deal with stress on a daily basis. And they’ve learned how to put it in its place.
“I feel stress a pretty good amount of the time,” Jonathan Bregel, director at Variable, told us. “It comes with the territory. Since filmmaking involves so many relationships and dynamics, it’s just inevitable. The trick is to be aware of it and know how to manage it.”

If I didn’t have this team, I’m certain I’d either be living in a cabin in the woods, or I’d be a completely jaded 27-year-old filmmaker.

See the musicbed blog post for more. They add in this:

Learning to manage stress is such an important skill in a creative life. It can make or break you. We love Jon’s solution: to surround himself with a diverse group of friends and collaborators, people who can share the creative weight, ground him in his life and purpose, and give him the confidence to not only overcome his stress but to push himself to new creative heights.

If you have tips on how to manage create stress, leave them in the comments section below. Hear more from Jonathan Bregel in our feature-length documentary MAKE. Watch it now on Vimeo On Demand.

Want more tips for a healthy creative life? Check out these articles, packed full of wisdom:

• 5 Important Forms of Creative Rest
• Why We Made A Feature-Length Documentary
• The 5 People Every Creative Needs in Life
• The Importance of Empathy: A Guest Post from Ryan Booth
• The Art and Craft of Editing

SCREENPLAY 3 keys to engaging protagonist

See noFilmSchool.
Distinction, empathy and impetus are the 3 aspects picked out, with examples from commercial films, notably Drive, 40 Year-Old Virgin and Unforgiven; sample:

Let’s go back to our example characters, starting with Ryan Gosling in Drive. His desire to help his neighbor out of a violent situation, despite the fact that he’s falling in love with the man’s wife, is something we can empathize with. That sacrifice and emotional duality is what causes us to relate to him as a human being and creates a personal connection with us as an audience.

CINEMATOGRAPHY 7 cinematic gimbal or handheld shots

Here are the seven camera movements mentioned in the video:

• The push in/pull out
• The boom shot
• The truck/dolly shot
• The follow/lead shot
• The orbit
• The rotate
• The tilt

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Democratic digital opened up elite industry?

Tangerine dream? This iPhone-shot movie had critics raving, and is cited below as an example of why we should celebrate the passing of 35mm and its replacement with digital. (NB: the trailer features strong language) Read more at theverge.com, BBC, Techradar, Guardian and nofilmschool.

Most articles about digitisation tend to bemoan the undermining of celluloid and the 35mm film, but this one celebrates the democratising improvements it has brought about, shaking up a conservative industry with high barriers to entry.
Sample:

The problem with 35mm was always the price tag – just the film itself was gougingly expensive. Movie-making was a club with lunatic entry fees. Like all such clubs, some meritocracy was long overdue. Digital unlocked the gate financially and then, in turn, creatively. 

Take a movie like Tarnation, made in 2003 for the oddly precise sum of $218 (like most numbers in film, there was small print, but the gist remains intact). Its creator, Jonathan Caouette, wasn’t a director in any conventional sense. He was a smart kid from a baroquely troubled family, and rather than write a script to tell its story, he imported old snapshots and shards of home movies on to a brightly coloured desktop iMac, tweaked them, arranged them, and turned life into art in a way that would previously have been impossible.

In the world of big-league filmmaking, ones and zeros conjured all manner of spectacle: think of the computer soul of Gravity, returning the blockbuster to a state of childlike wonder. But in the wider world, the changes were even more profound. It hardly felt like a coincidence that last year’s Tangerine – the beautifully, casually radical story of a pair of trans women in wildside LA – was shot on three iPhones. It wasn’t just that they gave the film its non-stop momentum, or that this was the kind of movie that would have been murderously tough to get financed in the past. It was that it felt like a part of the wider explosion of culture, made with a device a billion people know the feel of, a contribution from an artform not yet ready for the museum, still rudely vital.

Celluloid is strictly for nostalgists. Digital technology saved a dying medium.

Colour semiotics - shading the psychology

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/06/watch-psychology-color-film

Call sheet NoFilmSchool templates

http://nofilmschool.com/2014/05/download-free-call-sheet-template-cast-crew-call