LOOK! - READ THIS FROM 'THE OBSERVER' NEWSPAPER TODAY!

An excellent article on how and why short films are so exciting now:

The best short films on the web
From attention-grabbing promos to thoughtful documentaries, a new crop of directors is creating innovative and daring pictures that are cheap to make, easy to share, and finding an audience as never before. Here, we speak to those responsible for some of the best

The online version of this article contains direct links to youtube short films recommended. This is an excellent resource for your research.

LInk to this page here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/19/short-films-documentary-animation-viral

This is interesting...BBC Film Network advice on making a short film

Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/introduction/what-makes-a-good-short
for the full text - you can link using my links bar on the side.

filmmaking guide
What Makes a Good Short?

There are no hard-and-fast rules as to what makes a good short film but here are a few tips that might help.
An Exciting & Original Idea
A Strong Script
Good Acting
High Production Values
Make It Short
Strong Beginning
Avoid Repetition & Punchline Twists
Exciting New Techniques & Style
Other Resources
Related Guides
Help us improve the Filmmaking Guide
There are no hard and fast rules as to what makes a good short; as with features, different audiences love different films and an award-winner in one viewer's eyes will be a dull cliché in another's. Obviously there is an element of subjectivity to any short film programme as different exhibitors will set their own criteria as to what they think makes a good short, which they feel their audience will enjoy. Whilst this can be frustrating for filmmakers it isn't necessarily a bad thing, as, what one exhibitor rejects another will love and promote – so it is important not to get disheartened by rejection. In many ways it is an exciting time to be making shorts in the UK as there are wealth of different festivals, screening organisations, websites and content providers looking for short films to exhibit. Our advice would be to submit your film to as many places as possible.
However, having said that, here are a few basic tips for what exhibitors might look for in a good short film:
An Exciting & Original Idea
Original ideas are not easy to come-by but a good way of avoiding clichéd ideas is to watch lots of other short films, look out for any trends and stay clear of them (See our Related Links: Recommended Watching for places to watch shorts). Even if your idea isn't completely original try to look at the subject matter from a different angle or using a different style/technique. If you're struggling for ideas, you could try to find inspiration in your experiences or those of the people that you meet or through the stories that you read in newspapers, magazines and online.
A Strong Script
A good script is key to narrative-based short films and in many ways it's harder to write a short than a feature because you need to condense your story and develop your characters in a very short space of time. All too often films are let down by weak, overwritten or underdeveloped scripts. Before investing money, time and effort into shooting your film, it's a good idea to test your script out on friends and strangers (as friends might fear offending you) and get as much feedback as you can. See our Filmmaking Guide: Writing a Script for more advice & our Related Links: Writing for scriptwriting organisations, resources and communities. If you write and direct your own films, it's a good idea to consider where your strengths lie. It's great if you can do both but if you think you're stronger at direction/animation then why not consider collaborating with a talented scriptwriter and see what results come of it?
Good Acting
Unless your friends are actors or demonstrate acting talent, it's a good idea to avoid casting them in your film. Even one bad actor in a film can really let it down and destroy the viewer's belief in the reality that your film is seeking to create. There are lots of great actors out there who are willing to work for reduced fees to learn their trade and make a name for themselves. You can find actors through advertising on the message boards of filmmaking communities (see the Filmmaking Communities Section in our Related Links: Filmmaking Organisations & Communities or via online casting sites such as The Spotlight. For more information on finding cast see our Filmmaking Guide: Cast & Crew or see the casting section of our Related Links: Production
High Production Values
Whilst digital filmmaking has had the positive impact of making the process more accessible and affordable, it's important to ensure that you still apply the same production values that you would if you were shooting on film with a crew. Many low-budget shorts are let down by poor sound, lighting, camera work and editing and/or by directors who are trying to do it all by themselves without anyone else's input. Filmmaking is predominantly a collaborative process and it's much better to find crew who are specialising in these areas who can offer different skills. You can use the message boards of filmmaking communities (see the filmmaking communities section in our Related Links: Filmmaking Organisations & Communities) to find crew to collaborate with. If you're new to filmmaking, one of the best ways to learn the skills required is to assist on other people's films. Also check the message boards for call outs for volunteers from filmmakers. However if you'd like more formal training you can find out about training or film schools in our Filmmaking Guide: Training & Development and find links to organisations and resources in our Related Links: Training
Make It Short
As a general rule, the longer your short film is, the harder it is to keep the viewer's attention. This is especially true of online viewing – for instance on Film Network the average time that a viewer spends watching a film is 4 minutes. Note – exceptions to this rule is documentary, which viewers will often watch for longer. Many festivals don't accept short films that are over 30 minutes long; a long film will really have to impress the programmers for them to include it in their screening, as it means they will not be able to show so many films in their short film programme. One filmmaker told us about a film he made that was 26 minutes long. He applied for festivals all over the world and was rejected by them all. A year later he re-cut the film to 10 minutes and resubmitted it. His 10-minute cut was shown at numerous festivals worldwide and was broadcast on a digital channel. Very short films, especially romance and comedies, can be popular with distributors and buyers as they are easier to programme and can be sold to multi-platforms e.g. online, mobile, VOD etc.
Strong Beginning
Most programmers/distributors will be inundated with submissions and so your film has to grab their attention from the very first shot. The harsh reality is that if your film doesn't pique their interest within the first two minutes, in all likelihood they may not sit through it till the end. Don't waste time on lengthy introductions and credits – spark their interest in the story as quickly as you can. Credits at the start can distract the viewer (especially if the direction, production and editing are all by the same person!) so leave them out unless you have it written in an agreement with one of your cast. Similarly if your film starts with a long establishing shot where nothing really happens, viewers may switch off before you get to show them your great plot and idea. If the pace of your film is naturally slow and ambling, make the shots as rich and enticing as possible to draw the viewer in. Note – a good editor can really transform a film. If you're directing and editing your own film you might be too attached to certain shots to know which bits to chop out to make your film a stronger, more coherent piece. In big blockbusters, scenes that have cost thousands or even millions can be chopped if the studio/filmmaker feels that they are not integral to the final edit of the piece.
Avoid Repetition & Punchline Twists
Whilst sometimes a repetitive scene can be used for comedy/dramatic effect (Groundhog Day being a classic example of where this can work), if you are not careful it can end up being repetitive and predictable. Comedy is notoriously difficult to pull off in short films – if you're looking to make humorous shorts then it's a good idea to test your idea on an audience (why not post a short clip on a site like YouTube or MySpace and see what feedback you get?) or to cast your film carefully and get a funny actor. Be careful of one-line gag/punchline films. Some shorts can do this to great success but many often fall flat. If you've got a great punchline twist then consider making it short and snappy as viewers might be disappointed if they sit through 7 minutes for one joke at the end, especially if they've already seen it coming.
Exciting New Techniques & Style
Even an average plot can be made intriguing by an exciting new technique or style - whether it be a new kind of animation, camera work or art direction. Try experimenting and developing your own style. Note – having said that, beware of style over substance.
Other Resources
For an alternative viewpoint on what makes a good film, see the Short Film Manifesto written by Philip Ilson, short film programmer for London International Film Festival and London Short Film Festival (formerly Halloween).
Related Guides
See also our filmmaking guide: why make a short film?
Help us improve the Filmmaking Guide
If you've spotted a factual error or have a suggestion for an organisation or information that we should include, then please help us improve the filmmaking guide

Welcome 2010

This is the beginning of the new process for this year.
The first page of the short film brief is attached.

What does the Advanced Portfolio consist of?

The Advanced Portfolio has three parts, all of which relate to each other:

The Main Task: creating a short film lasting 5 minutes

Ancillary Task: creating a poster to advertise the film
Ancillary Task: creating a review of the film for a magazine


This booklet only concerns the Main Task; further advice will be given for the two Ancillary Tasks later this half term.

What do you have to do for the Main Task?

The OCR specification states:-

Main task: Produce a short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes.

DEADLINE FOR THE MAIN TASK: HALF TERM – EXACT DATE TO BE ADVISED

In order for you to be able to answer questions in the exam based on your production work, you must work within the following genre or style frameworks:

• Social Realism
• Horror
• Crime or Thriller
Or a combination of these…(hybrid)


Also, in order to answer other possible questions in the exam, you must consider the following areas in your planning:

• Narrative structure
• Representation
• Genre
• Audience
• Film Language

Is this an individual or group project?

• This is a group project.
• You have to work in groups of no more than 4.
• Despite it being a group effort, you will still be marked as individuals. So, if an individual in the group does very little, this will be reflected in that individual’s mark.
• You have a responsibility to each other – do not let each other down. Group members have every right to inform their teachers of individuals who prove to be unreliable.
• As occurred during the Foundation Production work, Andy and (technicians) will also be keeping a record of which group members are involved in the editing process and this feeds into final grades

DEADLINE DEADLINE DEADLINE!!!

THE DEADLINE FOR THE ENTIRE PORTFOLIO IS THIS FRIDAY APRIL 30TH.
YOUR BLOG MUST INCLUDE ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
-THE FINISHED SHORT FILM
- YOUR GROUP'S FINISHED POSTER DESIGN (PHOTOSHOP AND/OR INDESIGN)
- YOUR GROUP'S FINISHED REVIEW DESIGN (PHOTOSHOP AND/OR INDESIGN)
- YOUR PERSONAL EVALUATION

YOUR POSTER AND REVIEW SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO PRINT OR COPY TO CD FOR POSSIBLE EXTERNAL MODERATION, SO IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOU MAINTAIN AND CAN ACCESS THE ORIGINAL FILE IN WHICH THESE WERE SAVED.


IF ANY PARTS OF THE SUBMISSION ARE MISSING BY THE DEADLINE, YOU ARE ALL LIKELY TO LOSE THE ENTIRE MARK ALLOCATION FOR THAT COMPONENT.

Evaluation Briefing Sheet, for re-drafting

Some of you still haven't uploaded or sent your draft evaluation to me. This must be done asap to ensure that you get some feedback. You should be aware that you will have lost the opportunity for full feedback by being late with your work. Below is the full guidance you were given for this task; make sure you read it again and check that you have done as much as possible to answer the questions.

Marks for your advanced Portfolio coursework are distributed as follows :-

Products Research and Planning Evaluation
60 20 20

•Advanced portfolio Products (Film, Poster, Review) – Final deadline 1st April.
•Research and Planning are ongoing (and you should continue to add content over Easter)
•Individual Evaluation – Draft deadline = 19th April. Written over Easter.

Your Advanced Portfolio Evaluation should be posted as your last Blog entry.
Evaluate all 3 aspects of your portfolio
Each individual has to write an evaluation using the guidelines below.

It is essential that this is written in Blog format - not as an essay. Therefore use :-
• clear headings
• precise bullet points,
• lots of visual material,
• hyperlinks to relevant websites,
• embedded video.

Questions around which to structure your evaluation.

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

For this section, you must consider carefully how you have used the genre/s and/or styles that your film incorporates. For many of you, this means how you have used the style of social realism, and possibly how you have used other genres with it, such as comedy, or romance for example. In addition, examiners will expect you to discuss how you have used the short film format. Some areas for discussion for each might be:

Social Realism – study the notes you made in class on this particularly British style, including its conventions and aims and its style. You should remind yourself of key directors here, such as Ken Loach, Andrea Arnold and Mike Leigh, and revise the key aims of Social Realist directors, especially in terms of representation (who do they aim to represent and why?). Also, use the research you did into Social Realist short films (eg Wasp), and make sure that you understand how the narrative of these short films usually works, and revise narrative theory from last year (eg Todorov).
You should be showing that you understand the contexts for the kind of film you have made. You will need to explain those contexts in terms of typical narrative structure, typical aims for representation and character types, typical use of mise en scene, typical use of sound, typical use of editing, typical use of camera and typical themes and issues. This is a very good opportunity to incorporate links to examples of films, shots from key films, or other visual material. What you say here will depend on the key genre/s and styles your group has chosen to work with.
Once you have established the conventions for your type of film, you need to decide to what extent you have conformed to these conventions or to what extent you have departed from them. You will need to show that you understand the implications of doing either: for example, how does your choice help the film to target your audience more effectively?

2. How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

For this question, you need to consider how well the whole portfolio would work in a real commercial context: you are essentially being asked how you think the two ancillary tasks would work as part of the whole marketing package represented by the portfolio.
You need to assess how well you have communicated the appeal of your film for your audience in the poster, and be precise and accurate about how the poster does this. You can include visual material here from the poster design to illustrate, and perhaps comparisons with real media output. Select detail from the poster (eg representation of character, themes and issues, location, use of colour) and justify your use of these elements in relation to what you would want your target audience to understand and potentially enjoy in the film.
You need to do the same for the review – explain carefully what aspects of the film you have chosen to discuss in the copy and show in the image in order to address the audience for the magazine. Consider whether the audience for your film and the magazine audience are the same or different, and how this shaped the copy and layout of the review.
Overall, you are being asked to justify the ways in which you have represented your film through the poster and through the review.

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

You could have completed the audience research via your blog, social networking sites, email, phone, youtube or in person, and it should all be recorded on your blog. Whatever the context, it is essential that the feedback you have collected as a group is actually from representatives of your target audience. Your audience demographic should be clearly defined at the start of this answer, and it should be discussed as a valuable indicator of whether you have successfully managed to target and appeal to your audience. Your answer should not simply describe or quote from responses, but must answer the question: ‘what have you learned?’ This means that you must analyse and explain the responses in the context of your aims for the film, and use the responses to further evaluate your work. For example, if a respondent says that she wasn’t clear about the significance of a prop you have used, then you might deduce that your film lacked some important shots that might have clarified the importance of that prop to the narrative. Aim to group similar responses together and comment on them together.

4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction, and research, planning and evaluation stages?
‘New media technologies’ includes the digital cameras used, apple mac editing software (i movie or final cut pro), garageband, blogging, social networking sites (if used), indesign, photoshop.

Discuss each of the stages referred to above, and evaluate your own personal use of the technologies. Explain in detail what you have learned in each of these technologies, making precise references to any new techniques you learned, and if you worked in final cut this time instead of i movie, explain clearly why this was. For your role in the print ancillary tasks, be clear about how you used the programmes, and evaluate your contribution. Incorporate visual evidence wherever possible (eg drafting work on the print task to illustrate use of a particular tool).

Individual draft deadline for Evaluation appearing on blog – Monday 19th April

DEADLINE TODAY!

You should have uploaded the draft evaluation by the end of today. If you miss this deadline, you should not expect to receive the same level of support as those that do meet it.

BLOG EVALUATION BY END OF EASTER HOLIDAY

Over Easter, you need to work on your individual evaluation of the entire portfolio for the blog. The deadline for the draft of this to appear on the blog is April 19th (first day back). In one of your lessons this week you will receive instructions for this which you must read yourselves very carefully before you start. You will need to have got some meaningful target audience feedback by the time you write it.

Review Format

In order to make sure that your font is the right size for the required 600 words, make sure that you have set the page size correctly, based on the size of LWL.

POSTER AND REVIEW DEADLINE THIS THURSDAY!

Some groups have still not uploaded the final draft of the poster. This means that I cannot give you feedback and that you are risking losing marks for planning and meeting deadlines (this is one of the assessment criteria). Unless they are uploaded on Monday or Tuesday this week, you can expect marks to be deducted for poor planning. Similarly, the draft copy for the review should have appeared on the blog by now (deadline was Friday). Again, this means that you risk having no feedback on the draft before the final deadline on Thursday. This is not sensible, given the challenge of writing this piece, and may mean that you lose marks.

You should also have begun to gather target audience feedback for your film and ancillary products, and this should be recorded on the blog.

EVALUATION FEEDBACK - COMMON ISSUES

We've all had a look at the evaluations and there are some problems arising in a significant number of them. Read the notes below, and aim to improve the 2 types of evaluation in the next stage.

IF YOU STILL HAVEN'T HANDED IN THE ESSAY EVALUATION, YOU MUST DO THIS ASAP AT THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK AT THE LATEST!!

1. Use your media language where appropriate - the terms associated with camerawork (angles and movement as well as shot distance), editing (how has continuity been achieved) , mise en scene (all 11 aspects) and sound. For instance, I don't think I came across the use of the word "Parallel" once to describe music matching events on screen. This distinguishes you from non media studies students, which is what you are. It also demonstrates high level skills of application.

2, Make comparisons to existing media products (seen on the film side of your course - Leigh, Loach etc)- "similar to particular scenes in films you have viewed" -this will be something to explore when you discuss your film poster. This is good practice becuase it makes links with your planning and research.

3. Refer to media theory and concepts where appropriate - for instance, some of you made references to issues about the representation of gender, audience demographics etc

4. Continually illustrate with particular scenes from your own work.

5. Be honest. Far too often, you have avoided discussing problems you had, or problems with your finished product. Don't bury your head in the sand! By admitting to these problems and, more importantly, by discussing how you overcame them or how you could have overcome them, you are demonstrating that you understand what a good product should look like and demonstrate. Constantly EVALUATE in relation to real media products, and in relation to your aims for the film. Consider carefully and honestly, how well you think you targeted your audience. Does target audience feedback support your view? If it is critical of your film, evaluate this view for its validity (worth) and consider whether that person has a good point.

6. In the section "on how successfully you have used digital technology" - be reflective and discuss what you have been able to do - How has final cut been an improvement, What have the blogs allowed you do this time round, what has garageband allowed you do? DO THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEK AT THE LATEST!

Review Copy Draft

Please send an email version of the copy to me as well as posting it on the blog, as this will make annotations and advice much easier.
Thanks.

DEADLINES THIS WEEK

REMEMBER THE DRAFT EVALUATION USING THE QUESTIONS IS DUE IN ON TUESDAY THIS WEEK (1 WEEK FROM ISSUE).

ALSO, THE FOLLOWING WORK IS DUE ON THE BLOG BY THE END OF THIS WEEK:

A2 MEDIA DEADLINES THIS WEEK

Week Commencing 22nd March

Work continuing on poster and initial design and copy-writing draft work starts in photoshop and indesign for review.

26th March: final draft deadline for poster, to be uploaded to blog, with initial evaluative comments from group and results of target audience feedback on poster.
First draft of ‘copy’ (800-1000 words) for the review uploaded to blog as Word document.

See your booklet for more advice on each of the stages, and use your notes from the lessons on reviews to help you write the copy for the review.

Evaluative Essay - Deadline 1 week from issue

The following brief will be issued to you during your second lesson this week. This is a conventional essay, and should be handed to your supervisor by the one week deadline.

TASK: TO WRITE AN ESSAY EVALUATION OF YOUR SHORT FILM, INCORPORATING TARGET AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

LENGTH: about 1500 WORDS
Context

For your A2 qualification, you need to evaluate your production work in 2 contexts:

1. The Evaluation stage of the Advanced Portfolio (worth 25% of the Portfolio, or 20 marks)
2. Section A of the exam (Theoretical Evaluation of Production, worth 50 marks: part 1a, describing and evaluating skills development over the course of the production work, and part 1b, evaluating the production in relation to one of 5 media concepts).

Even though the evaluation you write for the blog will not be an essay, the evaluation for the exam will be, and this exercise should give you some practice at doing it.

In your essay, answer the following questions:

• How successfully have you used digital technology in your Advanced Portfolio work? Have you developed skills in this area since the Foundation Portfolio? Have you learned any new skills, such as final cut pro or green screen, or the blog itself? (Main task only at this stage – cameras, vision and sound editing, special effects).

• How creative is your work? (Consider your use of film language in camera work, mise en scene, sound, editing, themes, issues, narrative). Have you experimented at all with any film techniques? Have you attempted to be original in your work? Have you adapted or been inspired by the work of any other director/s? Give precise examples as evidence.

• How effective do you think your role was in research and planning? Explain what you did in these areas, and evaluate your success and input. Give precise examples of your role.

• Describe what you were trying to achieve as a group in post-production (editing), and what techniques you used. For example, did you aim for continuity, did you achieve it, and how? If you have any more to discuss and evaluate related to sound or vision post production work that you haven’t discussed above in digital technology, discuss it here. Use examples to support the points you make.

• How did you use, develop or adapt the conventions for real media products of this type (consider the short film narrative, genre and style)? Provide detail from your film as evidence.

• What have you learned from your audience feedback? (This must follow research with several representatives of your target audience, and can be conducted via social networking sites such as Facebook, email, the blog itself, phone, or in person. The results can be gathered by all of you together and shared)

DEADLINE: 1 WEEK FROM TODAY – AND TO BE SUBMITTED ON PAPER AS A WORD DOCUMENT.

NEXT WEEK DEADLINES

This is a reminder of the work due next week and plans for lesson time:

A2 MEDIA STUDIES DEADLINES

Week Commencing 15th March

Complete a short essay evaluation of the finished film with 1 week deadline – every student to complete this for individual assessment and exam practice (homework). Assessment Objectives and guidance are to follow as part of the review lessons. Submit as a word document on paper.

Continued work on poster in 2 lessons
Teacher-led introduction to Review ancillary task over 2 lessons
Audience feedback on finished product to be recorded on blog (homework)

19th March: Deadline for first indesign and photoshop layout draft of review, showing blocking and layout and chosen image.

Draft review to be uploaded to blog, with group decisions about layout and ideas for content to blog as bullet points (one group member to record these).

Logos for Film Funding companies and competitions

Any logos you wish to include in your poster design can be copied from the k drive (under visual arts and media, media studies, a2 media, logos).

DEADLINE TODAY

As you all should know, today is the deadline for editing the short film. If you still have some sound work to do, you should bear in mind that you will not have priority in the edit suite as the AS students and Video Production students also have deadlines very soon.

Please read the notices in the classroom and continue to look at posts here for upcoming deadlines. Next week is very busy indeed!

Example of Independent Company marketing of short film

Look at the link to Cowboy Film on the right as an example of an award winning short film which was more conventionally sold to its audience.

DEADLINE APPROACHING!

Don't forget that the following need to be done by the end of this week - 12th March:

1 Final edit of short film, including sound and titling
2 First photoshop and indesign draft of poster design chosen from the sketched drafts for each of you that should have been uploaded last week. It is important that each of you demonstrates having contributed to the design of the poster through the initial sketched design (last week's deadline).

Look ahead in the booklet for the next deadline. Keep planning ahead!

Poster Research

You should have already analysed existing relevant poster designs as part of a previous deadline. Now that you have had lessons on this, you may think it's a good idea to edit those posts to add more detail and relevance to your own design ideas. If you didn't make that part of the previous deadline, you need to do that research asap. Each person in the group should have contributed to the research on poster designs and posts need to be headed with names to appear on the archive. See examples on this blog for ideas.

Deadlines Approaching!

Following introductory lessons on the poster work, you should now be aware of the approaching deadlines which appear below. Ask if you need help or have any questions.

5th March

Every student in group to post to blog initial draft design for the poster. Draw, scan image, and upload with comments and justifications (bullet points, about 10 lines). Group to select best design to proceed with.


Week Commencing 8th March

Editing of short film continues to deadline, plus blogged decisions and explanations (see booklet on main task)
Poster design continues in photoshop and indesign

12th March: short film deadline
12th March: first draft of poster to appear on blog

New links added for poster work

Click on the links to the right for more information on creating film posters and the institutional contexts for this work.

ONLY 2 WEEKS TODAY UNTIL FILM EDIT DEADLINE!

Your short film must be fully edited by the deadline on March 12th. See also the list of items that must appear by that date on your blog (in your booklet and around the classroom). It is essential that you keep up to date, as we are about to start a very busy phase, working on the 2 ancillary products. You have only 1 month now until the DEADLINE FOR THE ENTIRE PORTFOLIO (THE 3 PARTS AND EVALUATION)!

Poster for Cowboy Films' 'Poppy Shakespeare'

Poster and Production Company Research

Have a look at the link to Cowboy Films - production company for the bafta award winning short yesterday: 'I Do Air'. Also production company for several full length well-known UK films.

Reminder about posts

So that it is easy for us to award marks to you individually, please remember to put your name in the heading for a post when you are posting as an individual - that way it will be easy to see who did what in the archive. If you are posting often as a group now, make sure that there are still some elements which you are responsible for, so that there are clear ways to differentiate between you. It's in everyone's interests to do this.

Ancillary Tasks Interim Deadlines Coming Soon!

Watch this space for more advice and information on the Ancillary Tasks and guidance on deadlines.

Some lessons will be allocated to analysing film magazine reviews, and to working on the poster using Photoshop and InDesign. We will advise you of this very soon.

The aim will be to finish the entire portfolio very soon after Easter. Consult your booklet for the main task if you are unsure of the various parts of the portfolio.

Next Stages, including developing work on Ancillary Tasks

When you have finished the rushes, you will need to go on to the next stages of the work (you can always go back and re-shoot if necessary, or add to footage with 'pick ups').

Begin to work on the following in your groups (most of this is for the main task short film):



Final Deadline Four: Editing
Final edit completed, with no further time being allocated

On the group blog by the deadline below:

- frequent posts explaining the editing process, aims, techniques, decisions, choices and any reasonable difficulties experienced with technologies. Use terms wherever appropriate
- audience feedback on the finished film (use the areas listed for questions in unit G325 to help you focus on questions to your audience) – gathered via the blog, social networking sites and other means, and recorded on the blog
- the finished film uploaded via youtube to the blog
- further research and planning for the 2 Ancillary Tasks (see later advice on this)

Friday 12th March

DEADLINE TOMORROW

As you should all be aware, the deadline for filming is tomorrow. If you are accessing this post today (Sunday), do a final check on what is required, as stated in your booklet:

A2 Media Studies

Deadline Three: Production Work
All rushes to be completed and logged on the Mac you are using

On the group blog by the deadline below:

- Allocation of roles for filming
- blog to be updated continuously with all decisions and discussions taking place, using as much visual material and links as possible; all members of the group to be represented on the blog and posts colour-coded
- discussions of the use of technologies (especially camera) – any new techniques tried, any development of skills learned last year, any problems or shots you were unable to produce
- for the review and poster, initial decisions about images to use are to be posted, with proposed images, and links to real promotional material and reviews, where possible
- Target audience feedback on raw footage (sample shots or sequences shared through blog), and collated with summary decisions

Monday February 22nd (after Half Term)

Poster for Precious

New Links Added

New links to help with initial planning for the poster and review have been added on the right.

Preparation for Filming - IMPORTANT

If you still have any filming left to do, consider whether you might take a digital camera with you to grab some well composed publicity shots for your poster or the review. Remember what you learned about the use of images in print last year in your training.

Preparing for the Ancillary Tasks

Look at your booklet for marks and essential details, but more information will follow on this immediately after half term.

THESE ARE GROUP TASKS

USEFUL LINKS APPEAR ON THE BAR TO THE RIGHT OF THIS POST

You should have begun some of the preparation if you have completed all of the tasks from the last deadline (eg research into marketing of short films, institutional background for Wasp and one other).

You should do the following now though:

- research existing posters, especially for the genre/style and audience you are using (see links, but find more)
- start to think about dividing up the work - who is good at what? (Think about the design of magazine page, use of InDesign and Photoshop, written communication in the style of an existing film magazine, images needed for the poster and the review and more, as a starting point)

Reminder of Next Deadline

Keep the next deadline in mind - it's not long!

A2 Media Studies

Deadline Three: Production Work
All rushes to be completed and logged on the Mac you are using

On the group blog by the deadline below:

- Allocation of roles for filming
- blog to be updated continuously with all decisions and discussions taking place, using as much visual material and links as possible; all members of the group to be represented on the blog and posts colour-coded
- discussions of the use of technologies (especially camera) – any new techniques tried, any development of skills learned last year, any problems or shots you were unable to produce
- for the review and poster, initial decisions about images to use are to be posted, with proposed images, and links to real promotional material and reviews, where possible
- Target audience feedback on raw footage (sample shots or sequences shared through blog), and collated with summary decisions

Monday February 22nd (after Half Term)

Risk Assessment

Before you go out filming, it is essential that you read the Risk Assessment procedure for the college, and sign to say that you have done so. This is a change of procedure, and you will not now be permitted to borrow equipment unless you have signed this agreement.

poster example

poster example

Location Etiquette

A location used on college campus has been left as filmed, without being tidied up or cleaned afterwards. Please remember that wherever you film, whether on college campus or anywhere else, that the location MUST BE LEFT AS YOU FOUND IT.

Things to do

If you are unable to get on with filming in lesson time (and this will apply to most of you), you should be getting on with the following:

- continue to check that you have completed fully all of the tasks from the last deadline, including the ones preparing you for the poster and film review work.

- research existing examples of film promotion for the genre/style and audience for your film (posters, ads etc). Copy images of these and comment on their effectiveness, and methods, using image analysis terms (eg mise en scene, shot terms)

- research existing examples of film reviews in film magazines as inspiration and again, copy images and other links. These tasks are to be done as a group, but sign posts.

Bear in mind that the deadlines for the ancillary tasks are likely to overlap with editing deadlines, and that you will be pushed for time.

Message for Ben Baeza, Bea, Kiah and Michael

I've tried to put a comment on your blog, but as I thought, there is a problem with posting comments on your blog (the dialogue box doesn't include a space for the word verification). As I don't teach you tomorrow, can you ask Andy Paul or Richard Ellis to sort this out for you? I have given you the go ahead to start filming, on the condition that you are careful about activities filmed as part of the flashbacks, and that the length of flashbacks is kept to a minimum. You still need a full storyboard, and an animatic with an interesting ending - this must be done tomorrow.

Feedback on Planning Deadline

Please enter a heading only entitled: 'Planning Deadline Feedback' so that we can post comments on your plans. We will give feedback by the end of this week.

Permission to go ahead with filming

You will all need to make sure that you have the 'go ahead' for filming before you proceed. We will look at all ideas after the deadline on Wednesday and let you know.

Missing from research posts

Most, if not all groups have forgotten to include research and findings with links into the marketing/promotion and institutional material for 2 short films, including Wasp. This must be done asap to begin prep for the ancillary tasks.

Also, please make sure that your blog has a heading post for each of you to get individual research feedback, eg: 'Research Feedback for ....'. This should have been done already, but many of you haven't yet done it, making it difficult to navigate your blog and therefore difficult to award marks. It should also be clear on your group blog list of posts whose research is whose - you may need to change headings for posts to do this in 'edit posts'. As we have suggested, you should try colour coding individuals in the group, so that your work can be found easily.

Deadline Approaching!

Study the list of things you need to have ready for Wednesday. Make sure that you allow enough time to consult with representatives of your target audience for initial feedback on story ideas. Remember to use the blog potential to the full.

Next Deadline

As you know, the next deadline involves continuing research into inspirational short films, and pre-production planning. Remember to consult the booklet frequently for advice on each stage, and mark scheme.

Here is the summary of material for submission at the next deadline:

Deadline Two: Ongoing Research and Pre-Production Planning
On your group blog by the date below, with everyone contributing equally, and all individual posts labeled with names and colour -coded:

- individual blog material copied onto chosen group blog
- evidence of ongoing research into short films (embed links to more films the group finds inspiring, with comments)
- short statements (bullet pointed paragraphs) on initial group decisions in each of the areas for assessment in Unit G325: genre/style, narrative, representation, target audience, use of film language (eg ideas for key shots and dominant mise en scene). Remember that you will need to consult members of your audience for feedback later in the process!
- allocation of roles at this stage
- location research (photos taken and uploaded with notes)
- initial props ideas and photos with notes
- lighting notes (on animatic or as separate posting)- use examples from others
- storyboard as animatic (with or without commentary)
- outline script (either as part of animatic, or separate posting)
- initial ideas for additional sound (soundtrack, foley/fx, ambient)
- notes, images, links on initial research into short film promotion (advertising, reviews)
- some audience feedback on story ideas, proposed characters and scenes (can be gathered and presented through social networking sites), with comments posted

Wednesday 27th January

This Week

You should be continuing with research throughout your planning, and we will expect to see evidence of this on the blog.
In your first lesson this week you will choose one blog from your group to adopt as your group blog from now on, and you will copy and paste work from others in the group onto that one. You will also be getting the full brief with remaining deadlines and advice in that lesson. Following that lesson, on both sides, you will begin planning your short film. Good luck!

Keep doing your research!

Very little digging around on youtube produces some fantastic examples of short UK films. Look at this one - official selection for the Cannes Film Festival, 2005

Snow Today!

I hope you managed to enjoy it (or is it enough now...?)!
As your deadline is electronic, and you need to do independent research, the deadline for Friday still stands. As we have already said, blog comments on as many short films as you can, including your own examples. Screening of these will continue this week, and next week we will be merging blogs, introducing the booklet and full brief, and beginning planning.

Deadline Approaching!

As you will have seen from the notices around the classrooms, your first research deadline is this Friday January 15th.Time is tight, but we do expect you to have blogged your answers to the questions for each of the films we have screened in class, plus one or two of your own choice. This shouldn't be the end of your research though, and you should keep going with it when you're planning and filming. If you don't make this deadline, you will have more to do later!

Heading 2 on your blogs

Your notes on your blog for this section of the work should be headed 'Research Tasks' - you can use the questions to organise bullet points. Write as much as you need to, fully answering the questions, but make sure that you insert as much multi media as possible (eg links to youtube, embedded films from youtube or other hyperlinks. Below is a copy of the brief:

Media Studies A Level, Advanced Portfolio, Research and Planning

Main Task: Making a Short Film lasting Five Minutes

Research and Planning Task

Study some selected short films and your own choice of short films, and make notes to answer the following questions. Afterwards, record your answers as fully as possible in bullet point form on your blog, under the heading: ‘Research Tasks’. Identify each film you discuss with its title, director and year of production.

1. Identify the genre/s or style/s used, providing micro evidence of conventions used in the film in terms of style or content (eg iconography, mise en scene, sound, narrative structure, themes and issues, characterisation …)

2. All films use genre or style conventions uniquely. How does this film use genre/style conventions uniquely? What aspects of their use do you find interesting or inspiring?

3. How does the film use the short film format? What are the advantages of the short narrative? How is the narrative structured? (It is not essential to discuss Todorov’s theory here, but you do need to account for the choice of narrative structure and ordering, and the choice of opening and ending). Again, make some comments related to your own planning where possible: what are you inspired by?

4. What do you find interesting about the use of sound? Use sound terms to analyse, and consider whether you might extend any of the ideas yourselves.

5. Themes and issues and representation: what does the film seem to be about? Does it ‘position’ the audience to take a particular view on the subject matter? If so, how is that achieved? Which social groups are represented by the film? Explain how they are represented, using evidence: consider whether stereotypes are used, and whether this is a sympathetic representation of these types of characters?

Suggested Films:

Conversation Piece, (Stewart), 2009

Wasp (Andrea Arnold), 2003

Joyride (Gillespie), 1995

Eight (Daldry), 1998

Lou-Lou Lives Here (Grian) 2003

Select your favourite 2 from Virgin Media Shorts

Research Tasks

You should be starting your research tasks now. In class you will all study the short film 'Joyride', and blog individual answers to the questions you have been set. Following that, you will study a further 5 short films in class and blog more analysis. You must then complete additional research on more short films of your choice. Virgin Media shorts are a good source for this.

Some more short films...

Have a look at these...

Starting the Research for the Short Film

Here are some links to youtube short films, that you should view as part of your research:

Welcome!

If you are reading this, you are probably being supervised by me for your Advanced Portfolio. You will have set up your own blog, and very soon you will need to follow my blog so that you get any messages I send directly via the blog. I will also be following your blog, so that I can post comments on your progress, suggest material to research, and help you improve your work. I will also use this blog as a way of introducing you to links you should visit, and also to assess your work - as you found last year, the blog is a crucial part of your assessment for the overall grade.