IMMEDIATE TO DO LIST

Use the coursework checklist you were given. Tick off as you go. 

PLANNING

Storyboards uploaded to blogs (photos will do).
Take a pic of every single shot for your animatic.
Finished script uploaded to blogs
Shot list
Shooting schedule
Planning of locations, costumes, props etc…

RESEARCH

BBFC research - link to blog - study guidance - decide on certificate rating for your film.
Gearing towards a post on more detailed audience research.

PRODUCTION

Start filming/editing.

Example of an animatic

Here is an example of the kind of storyboard you need to be aiming for (though this one is for a music video). You'll be creating the animatic next week:
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=XKmGn9565hA

Example of a shot list from a different centre

shot list

DO THIS - DO IT NOW! Planning and Storyboarding

You should be planning furiously as time is short. Start storyboarding your ideas - It is something that must be done well and that moderators will expect to see.

Click here to follow the link.

Example of an animatic

Example of a shot list from another centre

shot list

Updates and deadlines

You need to write at least 2 posts a week reflecting on your progress, embedding grabs of what you're doing and learning alond the way, eg. new tool or technique in Final Cut or how you are diverging from the initial storyboard and why.
Also esplain what you are doing with sound design and soundtrack - the research should be there too (embed as much as possible so we can 'hear' what you're planning...)
Maybe you're hesitating between 2 editing options and would like some peer feedback...
You can also reflect on and list what's still to be done.
All this should give us an idea of your "journey".

Many of you are missing some research and planning on titles. Make sure you put this to right as soon as possible.
We will start assessing the Research and Planning part of the blogs during half-term so it's got to be ready. The mark scheme is in your booklets and all over the walls in the pod.

You should also start planning your answers to the evaluation questions. Make sure you have done all the necessary research in order to answer them.

Finally you will show your films this week and receive feedback which you will need to log carefully and reflect upon.
If you're behind with your edit, start spending more time in the pod!
(Nearly) final cuts should be ready by the end of the end of the double lesson on Thursday or Friday.

Reminder - these are your Evaluation questions, counting towards 20 marks (as many as for Research and Planning):
This is the booklet you need to refer to. It is to be found at the back of the assessment booklet you already have. Please look at the A2 media students' blogs to look at the varied ways to evaluate creatively.
A2 Music Video Blog
Marking Criteria and activities for the evaluation

Example from other centre (note - your evalution must feature on your individual blog)
A2 Evaluations - Look at Hasina's tasks and Chloe's voice over for inspiration.

Just to remind you again, here are the criteria for a level 4:
16–20 marks
- Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.
- Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
- Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
- Excellent ability to communicate.
- Excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation


Finally, for some of your film openings (particularly Komal, Geerthy and Mathura), this is an idea you might want to explore when your character wakes up (at the start):

PRIORITIES: AUDIENCE RESEARCH, PLANNING AND FILMING

Please refer to my email about what needs to be completed. Remember that you need to film this week/ weekend and next week.

In addition, remember that without solid audience research and a clearly defined target audience, you won't get a level 4 for Research and Planning.

On top of your BBFC research, think about the following:

You must have identified a clear target audience and you must show the steps you've taken to identify it and to test your ideas against this specified audience. This doesn't mean just an endless series of questionnaires. Use the range of techniques discussed in class including interviews, preferably with your target audience, and the tools available through Web 2.0.

Look at similar films and research their audiences - How was it marketed to appeal to the target audience? What are the viewing figures?

You must be able to answer these questions fully and with illustrations:
1. What is the core target audience? Is there a secondary target audience?
2. How would you describe the look and tastes of your target audience? (collage with key words)

And later, after a little more research and teaching, you also need to answer this:
3. What functions does this kind of film genre serve to its audience? (uses and gratifications audience theory - why not start researching that?

Think of films which features similar plots / characters / settings / types of editing and screengrabs / comment / analyse.

Christmas Homework / Private Study

RESEARCH AND PLANNING
Use your grid to catch up and update your blogs and develop your research. There are many items to research - just tick off the list as you go.

1. Research:
INDIVIDUAL BLOG: Find and embed extracts and grabs that inspire you or that you'd like to emulate in your work. You might focus on camerawork, editing, lighting, mise-en-scene etc...
Similarly, research soundtracks! Embed as you go...
INDIVIDUAL BLOG: update / complete your Narrative Research, specifically by applying the theories to existing films and to your own opening.

INDIVIDUAL BLOG / GROUP BLOG: Audience Research - questionnaires (general on thriller genre and specific to test your pitch), interviews (filmed) and figures/ stats to establish exactly who your target audience are. You should publish your results on the group blog along with a description of one of your typical audience member ( make it visual - example to follow).

2. Planning:
GROUP BLOG: Pitch (and feedback received), shotlist and storyboard should be posted as a bare minimum. Completed TIMELINE strongly welcome.

INDIVIDUAL BLOG: ideas for costumes, props, mise-en-scene, lighting.

3. Planning:
INDIVIDUAL AND/OR GROUP BLOG:
Recce shots, test shoots etc... Pictures of potential locations etc...

4. Research:
INDIVIDUAL BLOG: Research Production / Distribution Companies in more detail. Some of you have started some research but now dig 'deeper' and give examples of what they do / films produced / distributed.
In class, we briefly looked at some production companies - you might want to start here but explore further on your own.
Blast!
Coffee Films
Hammer Film Productions

Here is an example of one student's research into the question.

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

View more presentations from Stephanie.

OF COURSE, WE WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Find the time to work, rest and play

Research and Planning. Due in.

Research and Planning should be well under way.
Post your Narrative notes on your Individual blog. You should also apply the theories to existing films.
You should also have a post there on how you thinkthe pitch went and what feedback you were given.
Someone from each group needs to post the pitch on the group blog.

You should be working on final script, shotlist and storyboard. These will need to be finished in the next lesson.
On your individual blog, you should be gathering film extracts and screengrabs from which you take inspiration, with a few bullet points on what it is that you like: mise-en-scene, costumes, props, lighting, shot frames or angles, editing techniques etc.

Finally, you should take recce pictures of possible locations.

Lots to do! Work as a team but don't forget to show how well you engage individually as well.

Here is an example of the kind of storyboard you need to be aiming for (though this one is for a music video). You'll be creating the animatic next week:
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=XKmGn9565hA

Early research and planning - group and independent study

1. Picture of your initial ideas + more detail - Plot summary in a few points, ideas for the opening, mood board, conventions of your chosen sub-genre(s) with embedded examples (screen grabs, trailers, opening sequences)
2. Each member of the group needs to complete a detailed analysis of a third film opening but this time, you choose the film; it should be a similar product to the type of opening you want to produce.
3. Film production name and ideas for a logo + research into UK film production companies that produce thriller films.

for Thursday 20 January CATCH UP!

- You will be starting by explaining what you have done / worked on since last lesson, personally and as a group. We will look through the blogs.

- Unfortunately some of you still have not caught up with set work and that means more cause for concern sheets.

- You should all have updated your personal blogs several times:
* what your involvement has been so far, your thoughts on the group's project, progress etc, what needs doing next,
* embedded film sequences with screengrabs and comments,
* Propp and Barthes work (properly),
* others students' blogs you have looked at, linked, with your own comments,
* embedded films from previous candidates with comments,
* posters and DVD covers with analysis (choose models for your own),
* ideas for your own, marketing (including production and distribution) notes, ideas for production company name and logo,
* ideas for soundtrack with relevant embedded clips.

Keep the evaluation questions in mind to complete all the relevant research.

No one is on a level 3 or 4 at present for research and planning.

Tomorrow, you will have produced your rough cut with titles and rough soundtrack by the end of the lesson ready to be presented next week for feedback.

Finally, keep labels clear and organised - don't use more than 10 or 12. Group 1 needs to review their label list.

Blog example - Go through this very carefully. Due in Monday 13.12.10

You need to realize how much work you need to put in so I would like you to look at this blog.

The student was not working on a Thriller but all the steps are there.

After looking through it, you need to write a post about what you thought was good about it, which posts were particularly effective etc. Finally you need to give yourself 3 targets / tasks you will fulfill by next Monday 13th December.

NEXT STEPS: To research who would distribute your film. Please look at the evaluation below to start thinking about it.

Victoria's AS blog - evaluation question 3

Thursday 9.12.11 - due in whether you're in the lesson or not

You must have identified a clear target audience by then and you must show the steps you've taken to identify it and to test your ideas against this specified audience. This doesn't mean just an endless series of questionnaires. Use the range of techniques discussed in class including interviews, preferably with your target audience, and the tools available through Web 2.0.

Look at similar films and research their audience - How was it marketed to appeal to the target audience? What are the viewing figures?

You must be able to answer these questions fully and with illustrations:
1. What is the core target audience? Is there a secondary target audience?
2. How would you describe the tastes of your target audience?

And later, after a little more research and teaching, you also need to answer this:
3. What functions does this kind of film genre serve to its audience? (uses and gratifications audience theory - why not start researching that?

Think of films which features similar plots / characters / settings / types of editing and screengrabs / comment / analyse.

Similarly, you should all aim to complete one better analysis of a film opening, acting on the target I gave you last time. Choose your film carefully so that it is one of the "similar products" mentioned in your criteria, You need to show progress.

Look at this student's analyses:

Victoria's blog

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You should also be updating your pitch in the light of the feedback received and post the improved / revised version. Please see handout about The Treatment again.

No one has yet posted any group meeting minutes (including group time in class).
Some groups still haven't posted the feedback on pitch.

Group 4 haven't posted a pitch - a summary of the plot is NOT a pitch.
Target audience must be part of the pitch/treatment.

Group blogs / individual blogs

You must keep updating. Two group blogs are empty so the time given in lesson has not been used very effectively.

You must post the feedback received on your pitch.

Storyboard, even rough, should be appearing along with initial shot lists.

Using your blog as a diary - planning / research

As you've been told on Monday, this is the stage where you should record everything on your blog about group meetings and what you are doing about planning and research. The posts need not be long but rather short entries, diary - style, about what is going on. You should aim for a post every 2 - 3 days.

REMINDER - group pitch tomorrow

READ CAREFULLY - On-Going work and Home learning due in Thursday 2.12.10

Firstly no one has completed the H/l due in yesterday (Todorov and Propp). Sort it out ASAP. You must keep to deadlines even when there is no lesson. Time is very short to complete all the coursework.

Where you should be now:

You should have sorted out your ideas by now, possibly organized a Facebook page which you could later screengrab and embed to show on-going group decisions.

On Monday, you'll be in full pre-production mode. Target audience research should be under way and your pitch should be taking shape. This time, it's the real thing! Look again at the ideas posted previously on how to pitch and to the hand out distributed in class.

You will also have started your storyboard and shotlist.

You should have at least one group meeting a week outside of lessons where decisions are recorded and minutes taken; these should appear weekly on your blog.

For Thursday, you need to have prepared your group pitch and will give a presentation to the class as a group. You might prefer a PowerPoint this time as you will need to bring in a hard copy (at least one per group). You will be assessed on your pitch and will receive peer and teacher feedback which you must record carefully and post on your blog (this will be needed for your Planning and Evaluation).

What next? The next steps will be:

- To do recce shots and shoot at the weekend, take pictures of actors, costumes, props, sets etc... and post to blog.
- To organize the shoot, planning ahead and writing schedules for your "shoot days" - more guidance to follow. All this is evidence of planning. No excuse for not getting a level 3 here at least.

Other on-going work must be to continue your research of real media products with film opening analyses, screengrabs of films / sets and locations / atmosphere / camerawork / mise-en-scene/ editing you are inspired by in your project.

All this demands a high level of independence, organization and determination. Time management and organization are criteria against which you are assessed. The weekly 5 hour independent study must be done or your group (and your grade) will suffer.

However this remains an enjoyable process and we hope you have fun with it.

PS: Matthew, rethink some of your questions in your questionnaire. Set yourself a clear objective first about what you are trying to achieve / demonstrate / find out. THiS is valid for all groups. Consider Web 2.0 to conduct market research.

Remember to plan with the evaluation questions firmly in mind:

Evaluation questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Refer to your booklets for further guidance.

Finally here are the criteria (Level 4) for Research and Planning, and for Evaluation:

Research and Planning: Level 4 16–20 marks
- There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
- There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
- There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
- There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning
- Time management is excellent.

Evaluation:
Level 4 16–20 marks
- Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.
- Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
- Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
- Excellent ability to communicate.
- Excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation

Home learning due in Monday 22.11.10 and Thursday 25.11.10

1. For Monday, your group should have a rough pitch to offer:

- theme and subgenre (or hybrid)

- rough idea of the narrative

- some idea of the style

- a couple of examples of real life products in mind

You will be presenting this in class and get feedback on initial ideas.

It's time to get organized so as to be able to communicate amongst yourself: email /tweet each other; some groups set up a Facebook page so as to be able to quickly reach everyone.

2. For Thursday: Apply Todorov’s 5 stage model and Propp’s theory about character roles (or spheres of action) to a Thriller of your choice, preferably a ‘similar product’ to your own planned production.

Planning - storyboard and shotlist

You need to upload the storyboard and shotlist you put together for the Preliminary task.

(By the way, not everyone has uploaded their prelim... and those uploaded do not all feature a conversation!!! The brief was VERY CLEAR! Will need sorting out after half term)

Below is an example of a shotlist, though yours will obviously not be so long!



Here are some extracts of storyboarding from "The Big Lebrowsky" :

Example of Level 4 group blog

Please note that the Research part does not feature here as it would have been done on the students' individual blogs. The group blog covers the planning section of the Portfolio.
Their final product is not a top level but they have achieved a level 4 for planning.

http://yaleblock1mediaproject.blogspot.com/

Have a look!