Your homework for 19/7/13

Your homework

You must start to create your own website.- This is where you will be recording all your progress throughout the year. – it’s your new blog!

 

Use

http://www.wix.com

or if you have another site you prefer. It is pretty straight forward, choose a type of website- I went with entertainment. But whatever you would prefer.

It has videos all the way through to support you making this.

The section headings should be as follows (the same as your blog)

·         Coursework

·         Exam

·         Research and planning

·         Evaluation

·         Construction

 

You should add all work you have done since after exam into the appropriate areas of your blog.

This needs to be done for my lesson the 19^th.

Any issues please let me know, before time so I can support you

Ms Steventon

Useful website to help you plan visually as a team

Pinterest.

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and
organising things you love.

you can add images, links to websites etc. It is like an online scrap book you can share. very cool, lots of up-an- coming filmakers are using this.

Revising Section B

Work through every slide, making notes and following the links. Stay focused!
http://www.slideshare.net/robertclackmedia/media-as-institutions-and-audiences

3rd Evaluation Homework - Due 29th April

3rd and Final Evaluation Homework – Due 29th April

 Note: When answering your evaluation questions

• You must title the post with what evaluation question you are answering – examiners are not going to hunt around for your work.
• Keep the formats varied. THEY MUST NOT ALL BE ESSAYS!

(see previous evaluation homework for some resources to do this)

Question 1

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

To answer this question think about

Consider your film what institution would be best to distribute your film.

• Research two similar films as yours and see who distributed them.
• What are the institutions and why were they most suitable for the films you chose?
• Explain how and why you would choose the same institution.

Question 2

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

To answer this question think about

What tech have you used??

Explain each one how you used it why it was good/bad with examples.

• Digital SLR cameras
• Youtube
• Blogger
• Imovie
• Any extra- garage band, prezi, animation software, audacity.

Question 3

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

To answer this question think about

 

§  What skills did you use in your preliminary task?
§  What went wrong what went well
§  What have you done differently from your preliminary task.
§  What have you learned?

Use http://www.tubechop.com/ to place footage of your preliminary task next to your main task to compare.

Or use http://prezi.com/ to show the journey of your progress.

How to use lighting in videos.

This is a great series the guardian are doing on how to use lighting.
will help your projects and your evaulations!
episode 1

 

Second Evaulation Homework - Due 26/4/13

This is your homework from Fridays lesson. 20/4/13

You need to answer these evaluation questions

1. Who would be the audience for your media product?

To do this consider who your audience is. Refer to any research you have done. Mention types of audience, mass, niche, 7 psychographics and groups.

2. How did you attract/address your audience?

To answer this you will have your annotated print screens of your films. You also should complete the qualitative audience research to support your answers. Remember this means using focus groups and screenings not questionnaires.

Do not forget to make sure your posts are engaging and not just written text.

 What the examiner said “In all cases, candidates should be encouraged to see the evaluation as a creative task and the potential of the format chosen should be exploited through the use of images, audio, video and links to online resources”

Some links to different resources to help you make your posts stand out and be more engaging.

• http://animoto.com/
• http://www.techsmith.com/
• https://vimeo.com/
• http://www.slideshare.net/
• http://www.artofthetitle.com/
• http://www.tubechop.com/
• http://www.scribd.com/
• http://www.flickr.com/
• http://www.xtranormal.com/

EASTER - EVAULATION HOMEWORK!

YOUR EVALUATION. SEVEN QUESTIONS. SEVEN OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW OFF.

Your seven evaluation questions can win you 20 marks overall. These are important.

Your homework: do first two questions. We’ll do the rest when you get back.

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 2: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Over these two questions you need to show:

-          Excellent digital technology skills (SEXY BLOG, DIFFERENT MEDIA ON BLOG, USE OF VIDEO/IMAGES/POWERPOINT/SOUND FILES/VLOGS/PODCASTS ETC)

                                    (DON'T JUST WRITE YOUR ANSWERS!)

-          Excellent understanding of representation, forms and conventions (Section A stuff)

-          Excellent communication (being able to write well; clear and concise; media-smart terminology; no waffling; honest self-reflection)

HOW TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This is where your research into similar film openings comes in. What made you decide to use that sound? That shot? That camera angle? The mis-en-scene? What do film openings do? What do story openings do? How does your opening conform to, or challenge, the genre? Where are you  borrowing from? Where are you being brave? What is your editing style?

Sometimes you’ll be following the basic rules: match on action, shot reverse shot, etc – and it’s ok to mention that, especially if it’s not that clear in your work! But those probably aren’t the shots that are the most interesting. Which shots really show that you’ve understood or challenged your genre?

Question 2: How does your product represent particular social groups?

Time and time again with Mr D, you’ve analysed the issues of representation in TV programs like Friday Night Lights, Diary of a Call Girl, The Wire and others. Race. Age. Location. Class.

Now it’s time to analyse YOUR opening in those terms. How are different social groups represented through camera, mis en scene, sound and editing?

It is vital that you:

1)      Engage with these questions very thoughtfully and honestly

2)      Find different ways of posting your response: powerpoint, vlog, podcast, and the occasional normal entry.

Here are a few exemplar blogs: (TO HELP YOU, NOT TO COPY)

• http://nicoletamou.wordpress.com/
• http://jdreade.weebly.com/
• http://rsimsonjrcsmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/FP%3A%20Production
• http://mediastudiesringwoodfinnd.blogspot.co.uk/
• http://cmdiplomayasmin.blogspot.com/

Work to be done for 15/3/13

Work for fridays missed lesson

TASK1:  Watch this video

This is a video explaining the art and purpose of title sequences. This is a really interesting 6 minute interview with some of the industry's greats in the field.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbhi-JICKKI&safe=active

 

explain in detail two of the techniques that are mentioned in the video.

Use these questions to help you

- What is the purpose of a title sequence? This should be a detailed explanation.

- What was different in how text was used in zombieland than other films.

- How has the designer of blue valentine tried to emotionally engage with the audience?

- What editing techniques has blue valentine used.

 

TASK 2: Watch these clips

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPFHnA0N9xY&safe=active

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq4-mlh7TMs&safe=active

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yALjuJcfg90&safe=active

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm0cZB4XQjI&safe=active

 if you do not know the film use IMDB to search for what the films are about, and to help you decide their genre.

 

When writing about these openings consider the purpose of a title sequence. Use the questions below to support what you are saying

 
- What is the genre of the film

- Explain the style, (CGI, drawn, film?)

- Explain how the style supports the genre of the film

- How does it introduce you to the film?

- How does it draw you into the film?

- How is the font used? What effect do they have? How does it link to the films genre?

- What type of transitions are used by the editor? What effect do they have?

- How do the titles reflect the THEME of the film?

 

TASK 3: Now select two title sequences that have inspired your work and explain how.

The Ones Miss Missed

You can't go wrong with those films. Here's a few Miss Steventon missed...

ANYTHING BY STANLEY KUBRICK.

Plus:

Thriller/ action

Hard-boiled

Heat

Don't Look Now

The Wages of Fear (French; finest exercise in suspense, ever. The first half hour is boring but worth the wait).

Rope (Hitchcock)

The Godfather I, II, and III

The Beat that my Heart Skipped (French)

Chinatown

LA Confidential



Horror

Psycho

Halloween

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, NOT the new one)

Rosemary's Baby (wow)

The Shining

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Alien

An American Werewolf in London

The Wicker Man (original with Christopher Lee, NOT the new one)



Messed up

Seconds  (1969, John Frankenheimer)

Lost Highway (David Lynch)

Mulholland Drive (David Lynch)

Performance (Nicolas Roeg)

Synecdoche, New York


Romance

When Harry Met Sally (hilarious)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (stunning)


Comedy

Trading Places

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut

Team America: World Police

Anchorman

Rushmore

Napoleon Dynamite

The Naked Gun



Classics

Sunset Boulevard

The Big Chill

Casablanca

Christmas homework- watch three of these films

Great films for great media students!

A list of Ms Steventons must-view films

1.    Citizen Kane (1941) - ANY Orson Welles film

2.    Withnail & I - comedy

3.    Blade Runner (1982) - sci-fi, excellence.

4.     Apocalypse Now (1979) - American epic war film – Francis ford Coppola

5.     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) – Drama – Jack Nicolson at his best

6.     Amalie - Any Jean-Pierre Jeunet film, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children, feel good films, all amazingly shot.

7.    Dr. Strangelove- Comedy - ANY Stanley Kubrick film (2001- Sci-Fi, The Shinning-Horror, The Killing- Thriller)

8.    Pulp Fiction - ANY Quentin Tarantino film (Reservoir Dogs, Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds)

9.    Big Lebowski – ANY Coen Brothers films - Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, True Grit and many more.

10.  Vertigo - ANY Alfred Hitchcock film

11.  Some Like It Hot (1959)- Comedy - My favourite Marilyn Monroe film.

12.  Breakfast At Tiffany's – Rom-com - Audrey Hepburn

13.  Taxi Driver –  Martin Scorsese, check out a very young Jodie foster – Any Martin Scorsese film there are too many to mention!

14.  The Descent - Very clever in terms of making you feel claustrophobic!

15.  Buried – Some great close up shots.  Most of the film is from the point of view of a man who has been buried alive. I challenge you to watch this without getting shivers.

16.   Alien – So many films reference this, it’s a must view. - A Ridley Scott,  masterpiece.

17.  Brazil – Robert De-Nero like you have never seen him before. Also a Terry Gilliam film great director, 12 monkeys, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Time Bandits, also amazing!

18.  Being John Malkovich – Great Narrative.

19.  Big fish – Tim Burton – Another great director. – My other favourites are, Edward Scissor Hands, Beetle Juice and Mars Attacks

20.  Fight Club

21.  Little ms sunshine – Quirky Fun

22.   Raiders of the Lost Arc – Classic Action

23.  This is Spinal Tap – mock-umentry

24.  Memento – Thriller, Amazing Narrative.

25.  Let the Right One in (2008)- Horror/Drama

26.   12 Angry Men -  Drama

27.  Blazing Saddles – Comedy - ANY MEL BROOKS FILM

28.  The Graduate – Classic Drama

29.  The Usual Suspects – Thriller

30.  Trainspotting - ANY DANNY BOYLE FILM

31.  Donnie Darko – Sci-fi/Thriller

32.  Night of the living dead – Horror

33.  Howls Moving Castle- if you like Disney you have to see a Studio Ghibli, film there are so many.

34.  It’s a Wonderful Life – Mandatory viewing for the Christmas period.

Useful terminology

Granite?? Terminology for you to remember
Once you begin your media course and have been introduced to some common terminology, exploration of media forms and given insight into the structure of your GCSE or A-level, you will begin to explore the key concepts in media.  Any media text is made up of GRANITE.  Confused?

• Every media text belongs to a Genre or group (a horror film, dance track, teen magazine)
• Within that text, a person, place or object is being Represented in some way, shape or form.
• The Audience for that media text will make sense of it using their personal and shared experiences.
• The text also contains a Narrative, be it a photograph of war or some bad gangsta lyrics about pimping your uncle
• The text didn't evolve from bacteria, it was constructed by a media Institution for financial purposes and has elements of their Ideology embedded within the text.
• It was produced using some Technology, be it DTP (Desk Top Publishing software) or hardware
• The Evidence is the product itself which you can then reference against other Experiences you've had with similar Media. Evaluate the work you have produced to show your understanding and to make improvements.
• Got it?!

Preliminary exerciseContinuity task
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

match on action
Cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action
shot/reverse shot
Two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation situation. In continuity editing, characters in one framing usually look left, in the other framing, right. Over-the-shoulder framings are common in shot/reverse-shot editing

http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/editing.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14

. Both preliminary and main tasks may be done individually or as a group. Maximum four members to a group. 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.

Objectives/Superobjectives

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa9dttNx1S8

Watch this expert 'gulling'.'All good drama is about someone getting
something from someone else.'
(Simon Stephens)How does this scene satisfy that definition?
How does the scene use the techniques we have studied?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2siftGYUI
Why do you think the film is called 'Heat'?
How does the director create a heightened
sense of tension?
What are the 2 most important lines? Character AList 5 characteristics　
Choose
 List 5 characteristics

A meets BA must get something out of B, obeying
an OBJECTIVE and a SUPEROBJECTIVE　
DefinitionsOBJECTIVE
in the immediate scene (a letter, a kiss...) - what a character tangibly needsSUPEROBJECTIVE
needs over the whole story (love, revenge...)
　
Eg. - what a character ultimatelyOBJECTIVE - I need to get her phone numberSUPEROBJECTIVE
Or- I want to fall in loveOBJECTIVE - I need to give him this leafletSUPEROBJECTIVE
Jehovah's Witnesses - I want to convert him to the  




Character Bera
Finding your own story....

Adapting a novel for the screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCTgUq6hzUk

Children of Men

(2006)
FADE IN:
Middle-aged FACES looking up, in quiet shock, listening...
A WOMAN'S VOICE
(upper-class English
accent)
...the world was stunned today by
the death of Diego Ricardo, the
youngest person on the planet...
1 INT. CAFE - DAY 1
MORE SAD FACES, and now we see we're in a crowded cafe.
Standing room only. Everyone staring upward, O.S.,
listening...
WOMAN'S VOICE
Baby Diego was killed in a bar fight
in Buenos Aires after refusing to
sign an autograph...
A man enters he coffee shop, making his way through the
transfixed crowd: THEO FARON (55, American), wearing a worn
suit and tie, glasses. Theo is a veteran of hopelessness. He
gave up before the world did.
Theo wedges his way through the packed bodies to the counter.
He orders:
THEO
Coffee. Black.
Next to him, a 50-year-old woman stares upward, cradling a
small dog, a tear rolling down her face. Theo follows her
gaze: an old plasma TV is mounted above the counter. A
REPORTER delivering the breaking news. Theo watches with
little interest.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV)
...He struggled his entire life with
the celebrity status thrust upon him
as the world's youngest person.
ON TV: The face of "Baby" DIEGO (18), the most famous boy in
the world, a fair-haired teenager who never lacked anything,
smiling a practiced smile.
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
Witnesses say Diego spat in the face
of a fan who asked for an autograph.
(MORE)
-----------------
Screenplay-Children_of_Men p. 2
7-1-07
　
WOMAN REPORTER (CONT'D)
The incident escalated into the brawl
that ended with Diego's demise. The
fan was trampled to death by the
angry crowd shortly thereafter.
Theo's coffee arrives. He lays exact change on the counter
and makes his way back toward the door, weaving through the
crowd, past people crying.
WOMAN REPORTER (TV) (CONT'D)
(solemnly)
Diego Ricardo, the youngest person
on earth, was 18 years, 4 months, 2
days, 16 hours and 8 minutes old.
2 EXT. STREET - DAY 2
Theo walks outside with his coffee. All around him, people
have stopped, their faces turned upward, transfixed by the
news. Atop some buildings, old billboard style LED screens
display the coverage. Some of the pixels are burnt out.
On a nearby wall, a mural of the country's current leader,
known only as the "Warden." A stoic visage with steely,
watchful eyes.
SUPER: LONDON, NOVEMBER 17, 2026 A.D.
Theo continues past dusty storefronts. Homeless huddle in
doorways, bundled in threadbare blankets. Pedestrians hurry
by, on their Monday morning rush to work.
Theo sets his coffee cup atop a post box. A few cars roll
by. Mostly "older" vehicles -- 2008's, a couple of 18's.
Some motorized rickshaws, a double-decker bus with metal
mesh on the windows. Bicycles. He takes a flask from his
pocket, unscrews the top, about to pour into his coffee,
when behind him
-- BOOM! A BOMB EXPLODES inside the cafe, blowing out the
windows, shaking the ground. Theo's knocked off his feet.
Smoke pours through the shattered facade of the cafe. The
counter where Theo stood moments before, simply gone. WAILS
of pain as people stagger out of the blackened wreckage,
bleeding, covered in debris. A woman splattered in blood,
holding her own severed hand.
Theo gets up, shell-shocked, hands pressed against his ears.
SHRIEKING ALARMS from nearby buildings blending with the
"Eeeeeeeee" of his ringing ears...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writing a Film Adaptation From a BookWriting for film and for books requires two different sets of skills. Their main differences are:
1. Novels provide the reader with a window into the protagonists’ minds and emotions. The screen can only reveal this visually through the characters’ behaviour and their facial expressions.
2. Novels can illustrate intricate background detail and biographies of the characters leading through the main story. The screenplay’s average ninety minutes of storytelling is severely more restrictive and cannot allow for much of this.
3. The main body of the novel consists of narrative description and the inner thoughts of the characters with a smattering of dialogue and action. The screen contains mostly dialogue and action.
4. Novels average at 180 to 400 pages long. Screenplays average at 70 to 110 pages, with infinitely less words per page.
The Conversion from Book to a Film ScriptWith these differences in mind, much of the novel must be cut out. The following steps might help in deciding what to keep in. After reading the novel, make a note of for retention:



Making a Movie Adaptation from FictionBackground detail, lengthy descriptions, minor characters and incidentals must all go. Some screenwriters have been known to combine two characters of a novel into one within a screenplay in order to make it fit the tight format. The editing process can be quite brutal.
Making the Screenplay WorkFilm is a visual medium and therefore only the visual can be included. Description of the character and their actions must be pared down to a few words and sentences. Dialogue must be given the same treatment, without affecting the plot or losing its natural flow. Less is often more.
The Opening of the ScreenplayAs with any screenplay, the first ten pages are crucial. The opening need not begin at the opening of the book. Consider: Opening at the most dramatic scene of the novel.
Combining two or more key scenes of the novel or
Inventing a new beginning if it grabs the reader more effectively or injects more originality.



The dialogue that drives the plot.The key action scenes.The main seven characters or so.

Composition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEWx6zbUDrc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZRXMLoCFrQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0n4pyhx7Dk&feature=relmfu

Storyboarding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ijjl6t30Kc&feature=related

One of my favourite films - how is exposition used? How would you storyboard it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-yeI83fN6s

Watch the following clip and answer these questions:

What season is it?
Why was the Tramp shoveling snow?
Did he want something in exchange for clearing the snow?
Did the Tramp get what he set out to get?
Was the man in the house angry or happy?
Was the scene funny or serious?
Are the two men friends?
Who is the stronger of the two men? The smarter?
How were the students able to follow the story?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOrju-kgoec

Task:
Create following story
It is a windy night in the Midwest of America. A tornado is blowing.
HANK, 15, wakes up at 5.30 in the morning and is scared.
He is desperate to know if his parents are alright.
　
STORYBOARD THIS STORY
NB: YOU CANNOT USE DIALOGUE.
ONLY VISUAL MARKERS....

Exposition

Glossary terms
The 3 main parts of a narrative structure are: (as defined by Todorov)Equilibrium (balanced normality of world of story)Disequlibrium
problem and climax) (unbalanced world between New Equilibrium

Marker
Markers provide information to audiences
quickly and economically.
They can provide information about the :Location (geographical marker)Time or era (temporal/historical marker)Genre (generic marker)Character

Imagine you are planning the opening
shot of a film.1. How would you show that the scene
was set in the early morning?
2. How would you show your film was set in London?
3. What methods could you use to make it clear the
film is set in the 1960s?
4. How could you make it clear one of the characters
is a married policeman?
5. What could you do to show the audience they
are watching a thriller?


Where are the markers in these clips?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFG6KAd2ITI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0epB5Z6ijpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiCrh9_XcFQ&feature=related(character marker) (return to balanced normality at end of story)

The films of Johnathan Glazer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zff9hVH3ptY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY1T4YAzs14&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC-wPteyl6U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBH97ma9YiI

One of the best advert and music video directors in Britain, very unusual for his visual, kinetic style.

Early short films

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYRemE9Oeso&ob=av1n
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRBi08Z00Ec&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEcJF0EVT54
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFLBvLxLJMI
Glossary KEY WORDS
Mise en scene
visual forms of storytelling- everything that appears before the camera;
Exposition
setting and theme - providing background to character, plot

Evaluation Questions

Each candidate will
A podcast
DVD extras
A blog
A powerpoint
A website
or a combination of two or more of the above
In all cases, candidates should be encouraged to see the evaluation as
In the evaluation the following seven questions must be addressed: evaluate and reflect upon the creative process and their experience of it. Candidates will evaluate their work digitally, this evaluation being structured by the set of required questions below. This evaluation may be done collectively for a group production or individually. Examples of suitable formats for the evaluation are: a creative task and the potential of the format chosen should be exploited through the use of images, audio, video and links to online resources. Marks should be supported by teacher comments and may be supported by other forms such as audio or video presentations.
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?