Planning : To Be Completed Before Filming

You will be given an updated Coursework Completion Tracker in the lesson today.


Use this to track your progress to date and moving forwards.


The following planning tasks need to be completed before we can move forward into the production phase of your film opening.


Each of these must be evidenced as separate blog posts with the correct title.


Planning - Producing A Storyboard For Your Opening


You need to produce a storyboard for your film opening using the Main Task Storyboard Planner sheets that I will give out in the lesson today.


This must include information you have researched about storyboarding in relation to the production of a film as well as your own storyboard for your film opening.


For example, THIS LINK takes you to information provided by Pixar in relation to the storyboarding process for 'Toy Story'.


I am looking to see that you understand the purpose of a storyboard as well as being able to complete one.

Planning - Location Planning For Your Opening


You need to identify the locations you need to film in for your opening.


Once you have done this you need to find suitable locations and record photographic evidence of these - the more the better.


When you have decided upon the locations you want to use you need to identify what the strengths are for your chosen location as well as any potential weaknesses which you need to address. 

Planning - Casting For Your Opening (if characters are required)


Who are the characters you need to cast?


Make a list of the characters which include their names and a pen-portrait describing what they are like (personality) and their role in the opening.


You then need to have casting videos for each actor you are considering using. This should include an explanation of why you have chosen / not chosen them to appear in your opening.

Planning - Considering Mise-en-Scene For Your Opening - costume and props


Costume


What do you want each of your characters' to wear? Their costume will communicate lots of information about their personality and a very important element of representation.


You need to have sketches or images of the way you want your characters to dress as well as evidence of explaining why you want them to be dressed in this way.


Props


What props do you need to source and where will they be used?


Props, short for properties, are really important as they communicate information to the audience as they watch the film.


You need to think about props that might be needed for characters (mobile phone, books, bag, etc) as well as props that may be used to 'dress' a location'.

Planning - Producing A Shot List


Your shot list will break down everything that you need to film in the order that you need to film it.


I have provided an example of a shot list HERE..

Planning - Filming Schedule


Your filming schedule will ensure that you have given real consideration to the logistics surrounding your filming.


When will you be filming? Where? Which characters are needed? What equipment is needed? etc.


Again, I have provided an example HERE.

Planning : Treatment For Our Film Opening

Once you have received feedback from members of your target audience, you are able to move forwards with the planning of the opening of your film.

You need to do this by writing a short description of the idea you want to move forwards with. This is called a Treatment.

This MUST include information relating to the following areas:

Video : What will be happening on screen during your opening 2 minutes
Audio : What will the audience be able to hear - diegetic and non-diegetic
Titles : How will you be using titles in your opening 2 minutes?

It is very easy to get carried away and come up with an idea that includes much more than you can realistically fit into a 2 minute opening sequence.

Think back to the 3 film opening that we watched in lessons. These were all relatively simple without complicated narrative and plot twists - this would be unlikely to happen in the opening 2 minutes.

Planning : Target Audience and Potential Openings

You have developed your idea and this has been pitched and accepted. 

You now need to distill this idea into a synopsis of a single paragraph so that it can be shared with members of your target audience. 

This will be different to your pitch as it needs to be more concise. 

        
Here is an example of how this should be done. 

This example is for the British horror / thriller  'Eden lake' which was released in 2008.

   

Eden Lake

Nursery teacher Jenny and her boyfriend Steve, escape for a romantic weekend away. Steve, planning to propose, has found an idyllic setting: a remote lake enclosed by woodlands and seemingly deserted. The couple's peace is shattered when a gang of obnoxious kids encircles their campsite. Reveling in provoking the adults, the gang steals the couple's belongings and vandalizes their car leaving them completely stranded. When Steve confronts them, tempers flare and he suffers a shocking and violent attack. Fleeing for help, Jenny is subject to a brutal and relentless game of cat-and-mouse as she desperately tries to evade her young pursuers and find her way out of the woods. 

Once you have completed this you need to undertake some targeted audience research to help with the planning of your film opening.

What To Do?

• identify 10 people who fit the target audience for your film - fans of horror films, aged 14-25, regularly watch films, etc would be a suggested profile for these people
• share your synopsis and ask them how they think the film would begin - you need to have a record of their thoughts and this could be done in different ways. 

1. You could give them a sheet onto which they write their ideas and take a photo of their thoughts.
2. You could record an interview with them and upload this.
3. You could ask them to sit in fron of a Mac and use Photobooth to video their thoughts.
4. Once you have the thoughts from this target group, you can then use their opinions, together with your own, to move forward.

You need to create a post titled Planning : Target Audience and Potential Openings and record  evidence for this task.

This is very important as, in the evaluation of your coursework, you will be asked to explain the ways that you have used audience feedback.

Planning : From Production Company Name to 60 second Pitch

The following evidence needs to be presented on your blog by Wednesday 23rd November.

This should be in a post with the same title as this one with separate sub-headings for each area of planning.

60 Second Pitches need to be ready to be delivered on this date at the start of our lesson on Wednesday 23rd November.

Read the instructions carefully and follow these for each task.

Introduction

We have completed research into existing media products and now need to move into Production Companies for your teen horror film.

These are the teams you will be working in for the remainder of your Foundation Portfolio:

Emma, Immy and Wiktoria

Becca, Loris and Bethany

Paula, Meg and Jodie

Sam, Sean and Ashley

Rebbecca, Bernice and Jade

Jude, Jayden and Dom

Harvey, Harry and Jamie

Task 1

Planning : Production Company Name

The starting point will be to create an identity for your production company.

Your production company will specialise in the production of ultra-low budget horror films aimed at a teen audience.

Your name will reflect this fact and should be discussed and agreed upon by you as a group.

Brainstorm some ideas before deciding upon a name for your production company.

Task 2

Planning : Brainstorming Initial Ideas

In your production company, brainstorm your initial ideas for a teen horror film.

You MUST remember that you are thinking of an idea for a complete film and not just attempting to think of an idea for a film opening.

The best way to do this is to take a sheet of A3 paper and just throw down lots of different thoughts. 

I would advise that you use a different colour pen for each member of the group's contributions to this document.

Try to make the sheet as full of ideas as possible.

Task 3

Planning : Decision Making

Once you have exhausted yourself of possible ideas, you need to decide upon the one that you want to move ahead with. 

Make sure that you give this really careful consideration as you won't be able to change your mind. 

You don't need to worry about the opening of the film yet though - concentrate on the idea for the complete film still.

You will need to give your film idea a 'working title'. This is the title that you will use as you move forwards with planning but it may not be the title that the film is eventually given for its release.

Task 4

Planning : The 60 Second Pitch

You should now have a great idea for a film but you need to pitch it to me to get the 'green light' for further planning to take place.

You need to write a 60 Second Pitch for your film ready to be delivered to me.

You will have 60 seconds in which to tell me about your idea for a teen horror film. 

Watch the 3 videos that follow for some ideas about what makes a good pitch and also to see some pitches being made by film directors...

Research : The British Board Of Film Classification

I am at a meeting during our lesson this afternoon but, thanks to the wonders of the internet I am able to provide you with work to complete during the lesson!

Before embarking upon the planning for your teen horror film opening you need to know something about the importance of the classification for your film's commercial success.

Your film must achieve a '15' classification for cinematic release and it is critically important that you understand what the BBFC does and how it classifies different films.

Task

Research who the BBFC are and what they do. 

Make a post to your blog titled Research : The British Board Of Film Classification which explains:

1. Who the BBFC are
2. What is meant by the term 'classification'
3. What the specific guidelines are for a film that is rated as a '15'.

The most relevant page of the BBFC's website can be accessed by CLICKING HERE to help you with the first 2 parts of this task.

Open the document provided by the BBFC BY CLICKING HERE and use the information within it to help you with the 3rd part of the task.

Deadline

This task must be completed and available on your blog at the start of our lesson on Wednesday 9th November.

Research : The Importance Of Sound

Sound is a vital element of any film and the way in which it can position an audience to feel a certain emotion is essential to the creation of atmosphere.

The use of sound in a horror film is vital to the success of this form of media product. It can, in films such as Psycho andJaws elevate the film to such an iconic level that the sound instantly identifies the film.


The following video is also worth a look and gives some advice for film makers.

Sound will play a vital role in your film opening.

The last research task we need to do before we start planning is to investigate why sound is so important to the success of a film.

This task will be in a post titled Research : The Importance Of Sound In Horror Films

This task needs to be completed individually and should be done as a piece of independent research - that means I will give you some guidelines but how much and exactly what you do is up to you. Just remember that this research should eventually inform and influence the ideas you have for the use of sound in your own film opening.

The deadline for this evidence to be on your blog is the start of our lesson on Monday 7th November.

You need to show that you have delved into this art form....

• You could start by reading about research that has been completed into why the music used in horror films scares us. 
• You could include some classic clips from horror films to illustrate how the use of sound is so important. There are 7 iconic films that are totally normal without the sound which can be viewed BY CLICKING HERE 
• There is also a website called www.filmsound.org which, rather unsurprisingly, dedicates itself to the use of sound in films. There is an interesting discussion here of the use of sound in horror and science fiction films which, once you have sifted through the plethora of information about Star Trek contains some useful snippets about sounds in horror films such as 'Psycho'.

There is lots more out there that you can use for this part of your research. Whether or not you find it, is pretty much down to how committed you are.

What your post looks like is up to you.

Research : The Importance Of Opening Titles

The set brief for your main task is as follows:

The opening 2 minutes including titles of a new horror film aimed at a teen audience.

We have discussed what codes and conventions are and we have also completed 2 tasks relating to this:

• A post explaining what conventions are and how they are commonly used in horror films
• An essay analysing the ways that codes and conventions are used in the openings of 3 horror films aimed at a teen audience.

We now need to work in class to identify the conventions of opening titles and the meanings and connotations that are created through the ways in which these titles are presented to the audience.

Let's start by watching a film about the history of opening titles from the earliest days of film.

A video titled 'The Film Before The Film can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.

Now let's look at another video which gives a brief history of title design which can be accessed by CLICKING HERE.

Art of the Title (CLICK HERE) is a website that is dedicated, not unsurprisingly, to the art of opening title sequences in both film and television. 

It is a fantastic resource for the task I am about to set but also for any other independent research into opening title sequences that you may wish to do.

Opening Titles For Selected Horror Films

The 2 opening sequences below show different ways in which opening titles can be used:

The Conjuring opening titles

The Cabin In The Woods opening titles

Task

Research : The Importance Of Opening Titles

Create a post with the same title as this one.

In this post, use a mixture of text, image and video to:

• Explain what opening titles are
• Describe the information that is given, conventionally, in opening titles
• List what the titles in a typical opening title sequence might include
• Explain and illustrate the different ways in which titles can be presented to an audience

This task should take about 90 minutes to complete so can easily be done in our double lesson this morning.

If you are away today (Thursday 20th October) or if you don't finish in the lesson, you will need to have this on your blog by Tuesday 1st November.

You could embed videos such as the ones above, include a link to www.artofthetitle.com, take screen shots (cmd+shift+4) of examples from opening titles on Art Of The Title's website, research other information which will help you to meet the requirements of this post.

I have provided some sources below to get you started BUT please remember not to cut and paste text verbatim. (if you don't know what that means, expand your vocabulary and look it up!)

Source 1

Source 2

Source 3

Research : Codes and Conventions of Existing Teen Horror Films

Here are the opening of the 3 horror films aimed at a teenage audience which we looked at in our lesson on Thursday 13th October.

I apologise for the poor quality as these are filmed from my iPad.

I will explain a task for you to complete during our lesson today.

The opening to 'Dead Wood' for you to analyse.



The opening of 'Dead Mary' for you to analyse.



The opening of 'Wrong Turn' for you to analyse.





Please find below the title of the essay you need to complete by the start of our lesson on on Wednesday 2nd November. 

This essay will be valuable for your planning and evaluation.

• This essay should be done as a post to your blog. You can, if you wish, punctuate your essay with screen shots from the openings.
• The essay should analyse the use of codes (technical and symbolic) and conventions in the 3 film openings that you have already made notes on.
• Post images of your notes at the end of your essay. The word count should be no less than 1000 words. 
• You should select appropriate examples from the openings to illustrate the points that you make. 
• You do not have to write about everything that you see and hear.

Analyse the codes and conventions of horror films as shown in the openings of 'Dead Wood', 'Dead Mary' and 'Wrong Turn'.

Once you have posted your essay you must read through it and make a judgement of your work against the marking criteria which have been posted below.

Post a comment beneath your essay in which you explain which level you think your essay falls into for each of the 3 marking criteria. 

In order to show that you are using some higher order thinking skills you should also try to explain why you think your essay fits into each level you have awarded.

This comment will form the start of our learning conversation.

Your essay will be assessed relating to each of the following 3 areas:

1.      Explanation / Analysis and Argument (out of 20)

2.      Use of Examples (out of 20)

3.      Use of terminology (out of 10)

I will do this by referring to the mark scheme below. 

It is possible to award marks from different levels to your essay. The overall mark is then determined by adding the 3 separate marks together to give a final mark out of 50.

General Mark Scheme

 Level 1 

Explanation/analysis/argument (0-7 marks) 

Shows minimal understanding of the task 

Minimal understanding of the way that codes and conventions are used.

Of minimal relevance to set question or a brief response (less than 750 words).

Use of examples (0-7 marks) 

Offers minimal textual evidence from the extracts

Offers examples of minimal relevance to the set question. 

Use of terminology (0-3 marks) 

Minimal or frequently inaccurate use of appropriate terminology. 

Some simple ideas have been expressed. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar, which will be noticeable and intrusive. 

Level 2 

Explanation/analysis/argument (8-11 marks) 

Shows basic understanding of the task 

Basic understanding of the way that codes and conventions are used.

Some relevance to set question. 

Use of examples (8-11 marks) 

Offers some textual evidence from the extracts

Offers examples with some relevance to the set question. 

Use of terminology (4-5 marks) 

Some terminology used, although there may be some inaccuracies. 

Some simple ideas have been expressed in an appropriate context. There are likely to be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar of which some may be noticeable and intrusive. 

Level 3 

Explanation/analysis/argument (12-15 marks) 

Shows proficient understanding of the task 

Proficient understanding of the way that codes and conventions are used.

Mostly relevant to set question. 

Use of examples (12-15 marks) 

Offers consistent textual evidence from the extracts 

Offers examples which are mostly relevant to the set question. 

Use of terminology (6-7 marks) 

Use of terminology is mostly accurate. 

Straightforward ideas have been expressed with some clarity and fluency. Arguments are generally relevant, though may stray from the point of the question. There will be some errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar, but these are unlikely to be intrusive or obscure meaning. 

Level 4

Explanation/analysis/argument (16-20 marks)

Shows excellent understanding of the task.

Excellent knowledge and understanding of the way that codes and conventions are used.

Clearly relevant to set question.

Use of examples (16-20 marks)

Offers frequent textual analysis from the extract.

Offers examples which are clearly relevant to the set question.

Use of terminology (8-10 marks)

Use of terminology is relevant and accurate.

Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently. Sentences and paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Research : Conventions In Horror Films

We spent some time in class looking at codes and conventions in horror films.

Homework

You need to produce a post for your blog titled Research : Conventions In Horror Films.

In this post:

• Explain what conventions are.
• Identify expected conventions within the horror film genre and explain how these are used.

You should have notes from the lesson to help you with this.

Deadline : Wednesday 19th October

Preliminary Task : Editing and Evaluation

You have all completed your filming for your Preliminary Task.

Every person must now produce an edited version of the Preliminary Task which meets the set brief.

I will place your group's footage in the MidSenSharedRes folder / Media Studies which you can access from your desktop.

The completed task does not have to have music or titles.

Once you have completed your edit you need to export it, upload it to Youtube and embed it into your blog in a post with the same title as this post.

You should then, beneath the embedded video, complete an evaluation of your Preliminary Task.

The slide below shows the 5 things which must be covered in your evaluation.

Homework

Your completed Preliminary Task edit and the evaluation must be available on your blog for assessment by the start of our lesson on Wednesday 12th October.

Your evaluation will be formally assessed.

Preliminary Task : Filming

Write a post with the same title as tis one in which you explain your role in your group's Preliminary Task filming.

Th History of Horror Films

Our first research task is to find out about the history of horror films. This is vital and will help you to see how horror films have developed throughout the years. You, as producers of a teen horror film opening for 2017, have to have knowledge of horror film history. 

Our good friends at www.best-horror-movies.com have compiled a list of the top 51 villains from horror films throughout the ages. 

You can take a look at these characters by CLICKING HERE.

Each of you will be given a specific time period to research. You will be the 'expert' for this era.

The time periods are as follows:

1. Pre-1930
2. 1930s and 1940s
3. 1940s and 1950s
4. 1960s
5. 1970s
6. 1980s
7. 1990s
8. 2000 onwards

Homework Task (For Assessment)

Deadline : 10:55am Wednesday 5th October

Produce a piece of detailed research evidence entitled 

The History of Horror Films : A Journey Through Time

There are some set rules for this:

• This is individual research. You worked in groups for your preliminary task but we will not move into groups for the main task until the research phase has been completed.
• It must meet the key words of the marking criteria for a level 4 piece of research. Those words are complete,detailed and excellent.
• It must be presented creatively. Powerpoint is NOT allowed. Neither is an essay style post to your blog. I would advise using Prezi.
• You are not allowed to cut and paste other people's research. It has to be your own work...

I have posted below some sources to help you conduct your research. This is only a starting point - there is loads of stuff out there for you.

Source One

Vist the site Horror Film History by clicking here. This site has lots of information - too much for you to cut and paste - and makes good reading. The site does not, however, venture much past the early 2000s in its information...



Source Two

Empire magazine is devoted to film and has a great section on its website entitled 'Horror Through the Decades'. You can view what they have to say by clicking here. Their coverage of the genre begins with the 1950s.

Preliminary Task : Location, Casting, Shot List and Filming Schedule

I went through the slides below in our lesson today.

All of this work needs to be evidenced on your individual blogs by the start of our lesson on Monday 26th September.

If there is a Blogger symbol like the one below on a slide, this means a post to your blog is required.