Author: Mr G

Teacher
Posted on in Film Portfolio

Film Portfolio Final Submission

The Pages

  • 9 Pages + 1 List of Sources
  • Creative Intention should be clearly identified
  • No names!
  • The work should be created using a common page size (A4) and be typed in a legible sans serif 12-point font.
  • Images should have captions.

The list of sources should include the following disclaimer:

“All sound, including Foley, music scores and effects were recorded by myself or other members of the production team I was working within. No copyrighted music or sound effects were used in my portfolio reel.”

If you were not the sound designer for the horror sequence, you must also explain within the action or reflection pages that the sound was recorded and edited by another member of your group.

The Reel

  • Put your best work last (The Horror Short)
    • Show development & improvement.
  • You must use black slates to introduce the task(s) in that role and how long each clip runs. For example:

  • You should use black slates between tasks.
  • There should be no found sound in your reel.
  • The reel must be a maximum of 500mb in size
Posted on in Help & Information

Distance Learning

Hi Film Buffs,

Hope you’re well and are staying safely distant from everyone outside your households.

I will be rolling out details of how we’re going to cope with this new lockdown on Tuesday morning.

Most importantly is that there are no changes to the deadlines for the textual analysis essays.

Draft 1 on Friday 29th January (approx. 1,000 words)

Final Submission on Friday 5th February

If you do not make the final deadline, you will be obliged to start again with a different film and will have another month to complete the essay.

I am obliged to have three meetings with you during that process and intend to schedule Google Meets to discuss your sequence and then next week to discuss your first draft.

I will have a schedule of times and dates on Tuesday.

Stay in touch and see you soon hopefully.

Posted on in Textual Analysis

Micro Analysis

Your initial proposal

Please complete this form prior to our lesson on Wednesday 13th January

Group Meeting

I will be meeting with groups of students studying each film early this week.

Your work is assessed in three areas:

  1. Cultural / historical / institutional context surrounding the film (8 marks)
  2. Your analysis of how meaning is constructed in your 5 minute scene (12 marks)
  3. How these micro features link to macro features in the whole film (8 marks)

For a reminder of the assessment and marked exemplar, please click here.

The meeting agenda will be:
  • To share research sources
    • Everyone should have at least one beyond those which I gave you.
  • To clarify the important cultural context surrounding each film
  • To identify key features of the whole film:
    • Genre
    • Representation
    • Narrative
      • Structure
      • Character journey
      • Themes & Conflict
    • Motifs

During the rest of the week you should be completing a close micro analysis of your sequence…

So, let’s get down with the micro…

This is a process that you should be familiar with:

  1. Identify specific examples of production techniques:
    • Cinematography
    • Editing
    • Sound
    • Mise-en-scene
      • These examples must be named with a technical term
  2. Analyse the impact that technique, in combination with others, on the audience?
    • How do ‘we’ read the sequence?
  3. Evaluate how these micro features relate to the whole film

Studying the sequence

You should watch the sequence a minimum of five times.

  1. The first watch without stopping to get a clear gist of the sequence and place it the narrative context of the whole film.
  2. The second and third time should be a stop start screening, where you are looking for specific examples of the film element you are focusing on.
    • You should also consider the immediate emotional impact of the technique (in combination with other micro areas) on the spectator.
  3. The fourth time should be to consider the representation of the characters. What do we now know about the characters that we didn’t know at the beginning of the scene?
  4. The fifth is to try and think about the scene within the whole film how does it contribute to the development of the characters and themes within the whole film

Help Sheets

Here are note making documents to help you as you watch the sequence

Posted on in Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis Film Research Sources

Your Initial Response

Complete one of these documents in preparation

Context / Film Research.

You’ve got one week to conduct the research necessary to help you understand your chosen film:

  • Character Representation
  • Narrative
  • Genre
  • Visual Style
  • Context
  • Critical Reception (Reviews)

By the end of the week you will submit a proposed sequence from your film as well as an essay question which will help you focus on the sequence as well as link your ideas to the whole film. You should continue to use your copy of this document to record the research that you undertake this week.

Some Sources to Get you Started

The Handmaid’s Tale (2017) Miller

Media Magazine Article

Reference: Worrow, K. (2017). A Woman’s Place is in The Resistance. Media Magazine, (62), pp.50-56.

Across the Universe (2007) Taymor

New York Times Review of the Film

Julie Taymor (director) on Across the Universe

Moonlight (2016) Jenkins

Media Magazine Article

Reference: Nunns, J. (2017). The Oscars 2017. What Really Happened. Media Magazine, (62), pp.56-61.

Posted on in Help & Information

Back Up Your Project

We have got a temporary solution in place to back up your work from the D Drive.

You need to put your whole project folder in a new folder in the D Drive called “Backupfolder”.

This will mean that the next time you start InDesign or Premiere Pro you may have some issues with links or missing media.

  • If in Premiere it will ask you for the link to a list of missing files. Once you have located one, Premiere will find the rest.
  • If in InDesign it says there are missing links, you can reconnect by clicking on the yellow triangle in the bottom right hand corner of the image and locating the file. InDesign should find all of them if you have used multiple images, if not, you will have to locate them individually.

Please do this asap to ensure that we have got a back up of all your coursework files and Adobe Projects.

Posted on in Film Portfolio

Planning the Shoot

Storyboard – Use this document to visualise each shot. How are you going to frame each shot and how do you see your edit developing (match on action, eye line match, shot reverse shot, 180 degree rule, reaction shots, close ups on key objects…) Here is a document which explains the function and design of a storyboard.

An alternative to the very formal storyboard, which can be inflexible. Is to create a postit note storyboard. Each postit note is a shot, which contains your shoot planning ideas. You should mount these in order on a large (A2) piece of paper. This method allows you to make changes to your storyboard.

Here is an example for a student horror film:

Is a storyboard artist a screenwriter?

Action

Shot List – Use this to plan out your filming. Use it later to organise your shoot so that you film your film in a practical order.

Sound spotting list – Use this document to list the sounds that you would like to record on location. This should include (ambient, footsteps, dialogue, key props…)

Production Meeting Agenda – Use this document as a discussion and organisational document. Who is going to bring which props and costumes. Also, who will film what and when.

Please complete this document with requests for mise-en-scene that you are not able to provide as a group. Adding requests to this does not guarantee that you will get the item of costume or prop, so you must also have a discussion with Mr Gregson.