PLAN OFPLAN OF ATTACK:ATTACK:

BLOG CHECKLISTBLOG CHECKLISTThis is a complement to the asmediafilmopening.blogspot.com blog. I’ve broken the entire process, including Evaluation, into 10 steps, and listed sample posts you might do for each, but this can never be an exhaustive list. The order is changeable – you will have done some practice exercises before ‘step 5’ for example. My post titles are suggestions – just make sure yours are clear and specific.

STEP 1: INITIAL RESEARCH - OPENING CONVENTIONS; THE INDUSTRYInitial research into the conventions of the film opening format (general) and the film industry. Technologies used. This is the largest section of blogging, a key way to evidence ability to undertake and apply appropriate research (AO4) especially.BASIC This might begin with initial posts to get you started with blogging:My Fave Film

My existing Media skills/experience

Last 5 movies I watched

The Brief

Assessment criteria

BLOGGER1: Initial blog adjustments and settings

Use a numbering system: denote posts that explore a single clear topic, eg FilmEG1, SlasherEG1 [general v genre], TITLES1, FCPX1: Getting started, FCPX2: Exporting a video; YOUTUBE1: Setting up channel, branding, YOUTUBE2: First upload, tagging, titling and descriptions etc

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 1

(yes, that is the Czech Republic and composer Franz Liszt…)

INDUSTRY INITIAL You will begin learning to identify and assess ‘media language’, including ‘semiotics’ as well as start looking at film examples. Such work is equally for exam and coursework, but by blogging it you can gain marks for research. This might include posts such as the following:Issues with discussing ‘British’ cinema

Blogging on films: the level of detail can vary depending on the context, but for most films considered you should provide the director’s name, year of release, production companies, budget, box office (UK/US/world) and distributor (number of countries + BBFC/MPAA age rating are also useful). This will help you with Evaluation Q2.

Media language: angles and shot types

Terminology: highlight using bold+pinkThis is England opening1: Media language

Semiotics key terms and examples

Tagging: this is a key blog tool (the Blogger gadget is called ‘labels’); start this early and you will make the jobs of adding links lists, sharing posts in groups, finding posts for review, and working on your Evaluation all much, much easier (whilst also driving traffic to your blogs!)

Mise-en-scene: what this means

This is England opening2: Applying semiotics

Working Title1: Short history + changing strategy

Warp1: An initial outline Social realism genre explained

TECHNOLOGIES You will use a wide range of technologies as you go, and Evaluation Q4 requires you to discuss how you used these – so build up precise evidence of the tools you used and to what effect (purpose) as you go, remembering to keep adding links lists.BLOGGER2: Tagging and the tag cloud

BLOGGER3: Quotes and RSS feed

BLOGGER4: Pageviews

BLOGGER5: Links lists

BLOGGER6: Text box

INDUSTRY ADVANCED You begin to grapple more with distribution, marketing and how production and distribution companies identify and strategise to target specific (primary and secondary) audiences. You make clear the differing realities for studios and their subsidiaries and Indies … but also grapple with the disruptive power of digitisation, which many see as levelling the playing field as it cuts costs and opens up new marketing and distribution outlets. You can turn any work on the exam essay into useful blog posts, creating several links lists along the way: distribution; target audience; production strategies; budgets and box office – YOU decide how best to present this learning.Gant rule tested out

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 2

Distribution, box office and the big six

You should return repeatedly to the specific topics of marketing and distribution; a series of posts on specific films will provide good evidence of research but also a useful exam revision source.

PRELIMINARY TASK Early in the year you will have your first practical exercise to plan, shoot, edit and reflect on (evaluate). See Step 5, but don’t rearrange posts to lump all the exercises together; my ‘steps’ are themes or strands that frequently overlap + some carry on throughout the coursework.

Preliminary task: the brief + the editing terms

Prelim: equipment used

FCPX1: Getting started

Prelim: the video!

Prelim: What I’ve learned

OPENING CONVENTIONS (post2) This isn’t separate from the above industry research – as you analyse WT and Warp examples you are building up evidence of research into the conventions (media language) of film openings. You can add a post to more than one links list. What you must comprehensively evidence is having researched a range of film openings from multiple genres (you’re not yet focused on any single genre) and eventually summarised what you think are the common elements of these.You can focus on analysing entire opening sections and/or on specific elements of the media language and conventions: duration, idents, titles [use tag too], 1st and last shot (+ transition to main film), soundtrack (audio bridge?); signifying genre, protagonist/antagonist (Propp + other narrative; editing techniques); audience.Your minimum sample should be 5 films – look at past student blogs and you’ll see that there are usually more.Opening EG1: Film Title (director, year)

Titles EG1: Film Title (director, year)

Sound EG1: Film Title (director, year)

GENERAL Opening conventions vodcast summary

STEP 2: APPLY RESEARCH - PITCH, GROUPS, REVISE IDEAIf step 1 is the mammoth initial phase of building your knowledge and understanding of the film industry and media language, particularly of the film opening format, step 2 is where you begin to clearly APPLY this and initial genre research to develop and pitch an idea; possibly form groups; revise the idea following feedback/collaboration.PITCH You must show how your idea reflects the research you’ve already undertaken into the practices of the film industry AND the media language/conventions of film

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 3

openings. You need to do SOME research into the chosen genre, but will expand on this in step 3 once the final idea is settled. So, you will blog on…IDEA1: Working title

Initial x genre research

Pitch preparation

Final pitch idea

Pitch and reflection

PITCH OUTCOME, GROUP, CLARIFY IDEAIdea UPDATE1

THE GROUP

From this point, step 4 (pre-production) begins. Step 3 is really part of this but I’ve artificially separated this to help emphasize the importance of genre and audience research.

STEP 3: GENRE, AUDIENCEGenre specific research, and audience research/analysis. It is CRUCIAL that you keep making reference to research (format, genre, industry, audience) throughout the process right up to the point of final cuts. You are assessed on how you APPLY research, and this also needs to be clear within the production itself, so keep making clear, explicit references to your research – don’t worry about repetition. Any media production, regardless of the industry or format, will begin with a clear sense of the target audience – how else can it ever be marketed? – but this can change following research. Your posts should ALSO reference the target audience(s – primary + secondary) from this point to the end of blogging.GENRE RESEARCH Each of you should analyse at least 3 genre openings each; each group at least 10 (the level of detail can vary, especially in small/solo groups), but also identify a range of resources (this can include chapters in the same book) to read and summarise[genre] Resources

[genre] Research tasks

[genre] History

[genre] Budgets, box office and critics

[genre] EG1: Title (director, year)

[genre] Conventions1: Sound

[genre] Conventions summary vodcast

Key [genre] conventions we will use

AUDIENCE Reflect on what you’ve learned from looking at Warp and Working Title films: how do their production strategies reflect a defined target audience? How did marketing by the distributors reinforce this? As low budget Indie filmmakers, do you face any restrictions or challenges on audience/box office? You need to clearly set out YOUR target audiences (primary and secondary), breaking this down by age, gender, wealth and other demographics … and making very clear what production choices are

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 4

designed to appeal to/’engage with’ (Evaluation Q2) the audience. As you will have done through genre research, you need to establish there is an audience for films of this type. You need to set out a clearly argued BBFC rating. You will later need to seek and reflect upon audience feedback.This tag is for BritCinema blog posts on audience.

This post has details on the rom-com audience.

[genre] Audience summarised

[genre] BBFC age ratings

Audience: the Indie factor

Our target audience defined

Moodboard of typical audience for our film

Our target BBFC rating explained

Our intertextual references and audience

Primary research into [genre] audience

TARGET AUDIENCE & NOTIONAL BBFCConsider core and secondary audiences.

AGE: 15-24? 15-34? 25-44+? Your lower starting point will be influenced by the notional BBFC rating you ascribe to your work (also compare to similar films) – the BBFC’s website has some very student-friendly features to help you with this. You may argue your film potentially appeals to viewers younger than the age rating as part of the secondary audience as they are increasingly able to circumvent these age restrictions through downloads [digitisation + convergence] for example, and motivated to do so by aspiring [uses and gratifications model!] to be like their older peers (eg tweenagers). Are your cast reflective of your target audience age? Do you employ any slang, music or other cultural (intertextual?) references which might be primarily familiar to a youth audience?

How important is the youth audience to the film industry? (You should be able to find articles which demonstrate that cinemas target your age group more than any other)

ETHNICITY: If your product does include non-Caucasian characters, this will help reinforce its appeal to a multi-ethnic audience. However, you should not argue your text specifically targets a narrow Caucasian audience, many mainstream productions continuing to sideline non-Caucasian talent without commercially suffering for this. As always, think of real-world examples here, especially if you are restricted to an entirely Caucasian cast.

There is an interesting flipside to this: a range of low-budget, straight-to-DVD films principally targeted at an African-American audience (especially within the horror and crime/gangster genres) produced by and starring the likes of Snoop Dogg. The impact of Asian horror over the past decade (eg The Ring), not just through the remakes, might be something to consider.

GENDER: many genres are seen as gendered: sci-fi, action-adventure and horror as primarily male-oriented, period dramas and rom-coms as female, for example. This is true up to a point – film producers don’t want to exclude half the available audience! The tough, resourceful female character (‘final girl’) at the centre of many horrors (and sci-fi/horror: Alien’s Ripley) helps to draw in a female audience notwithstanding the crude, exploitative stereotyping of the invariably topless ‘scream queens’. The comedy aspect of rom-coms helps males to overcome their reticence –

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 5

and in both cases, especially for a youth audience, the movie-as-date factor cannot be overlooked! Do make some explicit consideration of how you have chosen to represent gender here. You might want to consider the male gaze theory here.

Can you use any examples from the work on the AS exam here?

SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUPINGS: In crude class terms, ABs are ‘upper class’, C1 upper-middle class, C2 lower-middle class, and DE working-class (see handout for more precise detail). Typically, a complex, challenging text, perhaps relying more on dialogue than action, might be pitched to some part of an ABC1 audience (as are broadsheet newspapers like The Guardian), while a conventional slasher, often with middle-class characters, might target a C2DE audience (somewhat in line with a tabloid like The S*n). If you are employing countertypes within a horror you might argue this would help to draw in the C1s.

Some horror films, especially when not centred on teens, gain sufficient critical credibility to draw in that sophisticated ABC1 audience – think of Silence of the Lambs. Plush period dramas typically appeal to ABC1s (the BBC has attracted criticism for super-serving this audience with its high-budget adaptations of the classics), while the typically more basic fare of rom-coms are generally pitched to a less wealthy audience. Again, it is worth commenting on the class profile of your characters.

NATIONALITY/REGION: Reflect on the differing production strategies of Warp and Working Title.

Whilst producers will not wish to restrict their potential audience to a particular part of the UK, nonetheless the southern English accent and setting retains something of a hegemonic status. Films featuring northern English, Midlands, Scots, Welsh or Northern Irish accents do face a greater challenge at the box office – although the huge success of Billy Elliot, The Full Monty and others proves this barrier is not insurmountable. This aspect may influence the company you identify as distributor (look at distributors for Warp, WT, & Film4 productions as examples), but again you should stress you’d hope to tap into a UK-wide audience, whilst perhaps recognising the potential limitations on foreign sales.

The contrasting fortunes of the similarly-budgeted films Son of Rambow and Mickybo & Me [a WT film] illustrate the commercial advantages of featuring southern English characters, while This is England is more typical of the fate of social realist movies than hits like The Full Monty. Once again: address representation – are you stereotyping yourselves?! Using recognisable regional stereotypes could help a film’s prospects beyond the area it reflects.

Consider how Hollywood is typically including actors to appeal to the Chinese market especially. The BritishCinema blog tags China, globalisation and global market are useful.

FANS OF… Perhaps linking back to your pitch, what existing films would you expect your potential audience to be fans of? If you were designing a promotional poster which film/s might you try and reference to help communicate the idea, but also to derive reflected glory/appeal from? (This could influence your titles!)

SEXUALITY: Just as a typical film will still centre on Caucasian characters, so will heterosexuality be the default mode for any romantic aspects. Again, do not say you are targeting a heterosexual audience, but simply consider if you’re including anything which could help to draw in the ‘pink pound’ – being careful about stereotyping! Its not uncommon to see token, heavily stereotyped, gay characters, notably the usually very camp gay best friend in many rom-coms.

If you are featuring heterosexual characters only, then this is normative representation: what is seen as normal or common sense (hegemonic!) because a culture has been so frequently exposed to this. Countertypes can usefully be described as counter-hegemonic, challenging social norms.

PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILE: You could also describe a typical would-be punter in terms of wider lifestyle and interests (e.g. a lager-drinking Sky Sports subscriber, S*n-reading Guy Ritchie fan, or a Sky Arts-subscribing, Guardian-reading liberal interested in classic literature and history) – and if you really want

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 6

Would Rab C*. Nesbitt & the boys be part of your target demographic? *UK sitcom on an unemployed Glaswegian alcoholic

to challenge yourself, do a little research on ‘Maslow’s hierarchy of needs’ (there is a fairly good Wiki on this).

**remember to keep making CLEAR AND EXPLICIT reference to your research and target audience as you go on to blog on pre-production, production and post-production. Repetition is okay!!!!**

STEP 4: PRE-PRODUCTIONPre-production: casting, costume, props, make-up (clear evidenced reference to your research into existing examples is crucial); location scouting; sample/test shoots - audience feedback, reflection; updates on the idea as it evolves. Setting up social media profiles [for your company and/or film] is an option (helps to evidence appreciation of marketing and engaging with audience). Clarify the final idea, and storyboard this - its almost certain to change a lot, but its important to make the concept very clear. An animatic [animated storyboard] is a useful means of demonstrating your concept. Begin regular/frequent short podcasts (shows [often details!] organisation, engagement with audience, marketing + a grasp of how the industry works; also a use of technology).This is in no particular order. Most of these need a good range of illustration from existing films as well as locations/cast (etc) you intend to use or are considering. Many of these might be split into multiple posts.Idea UPDATE2

Pre-production timetable

Location scouting

Characters

Casting

Costume, props, make-up

Production budget

Treatment

Animatic

Screenplay draft 1

Sample shoot1: [description]

Company idents

My company ident ideas

My company ident and wider brand-building

Storyboard

Podcast 1: Introducing the group and the idea

Pre-production complete! CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 7

STEP 5: PRACTICE EXERCISES - EQUIPMENT, PLANNING, CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING + GENERAL MEDIA LANGUAGEPractice exercises: what you did (camera operation, direction, producing, editing), level of planning, your specific role; technology used and what you learned from this - what will you apply to your full film shoot.These might occur at multiple phases of your coursework; DON’T artificially gather all your practice exercise blogging into a narrow date range! Work on this will take you a long way towards answering Evaluation Q3: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?This post has instructions/links for each of these. The crucial point is that you break down the phases involved: ideas, (possibly) pitching, planning (which will build with each exercise): storyboards, script, call sheet, characters, costume, props, make-up, locations, sound, (possibly) conventions research; (possibly) practice shoot; detail use of camera and tripod, and any new editing tools; engagement with/consideration of target audience (if any); analysis of the media language of your edited film – a key opportunity to practice applying semiotic and media language terms but also for Evaluation Q1 (the part on representing social groups or issues); and overall reflection then on what you’ve learned. Flag up any mistakes you made!!!

STEP 6: SUMMARIES - PAUSE + REVIEW! LINKS LISTSSummaries: This is really part of the previous steps but worth highlighting. For anything you've done multiple posts on (the idea; conventions research; etc) look back and post a clear summary if you haven't already. You are looking not just to sum up your findings but also what and how you intend to apply to your production. Update links lists. You can re-post these with additional updates (or add to these posts) as you go - very useful to help you quickly find what you'll need for the Evaluation questions - and also another 'use of technology'.

STEP 7: PRODUCTION (+ EVIDENCE SHOOT PLANNING, FEEDBACK, REFLECTION, IDEA UPDATES)

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 8

Production: storyboards/shot lists for each shoot, call sheets; production schedule (and updates); 'rushes'/clips from shoots (useful to post on social media too); reflection on how the shoot went - if any problems, make it clear how you dealt with these (if postponement, state so and post production schedule update). Evidence directing of cast. If in a group, across the production make sure there is firm evidence of each of you carrying out each role (direct, camera, producer [call sheets, props, costume, organise cast]). Be explicit on any coverage taken (extra shots, new ideas that weren't storyboarded). Be clear on how and why the idea evolved. Be very clear - repetition is fine; better to repeat a point than to lose credit for it - on the research elements (including into industry, not just from videos/digipaks/websites)

Production schedule

Blog tasks schedule

SHOOT PLANNING Provide shot lists, storyboards and a call sheet for each shoot. If by some miracle your original storyboard remains accurate, then copy in the relevant sections! The call sheet is important as that sums up your planning: who’s in the shoot, their lines and actions, props and equipment needed, where and when. Break down the fine details: communicating with cast – ANY rehearsal is useful to evidence – including passing on call sheets/screenplay (probably using Facebook – screenshot if so, Photoshop to black out details as need be); schedule; transport; refreshments; costume/make-up preparation.SHOOT REFLECTION Any filmed evidence of each of your contributions (directing cast; producing by organising through the call sheet; cinematographer) is useful, no matter the image quality (smartphone is fine). Aim to blog on the shoot within 24 hours – ideally, tweet or do a short live post! What went well, and what didn’t? Why? Did you add/change/remove anything? (Coverage is generally a smart thing to film, and you might spot new cutaway shots) Do you need to re-shoot? If so, when? Are there cast issues – if so, what are you doing about it? Include some raw footage and/or screenshots.Idea UPDATE1 It is very likely your idea will evolve – make sure this is bLOGGED.

Production schedule update1

STEP 8: SAMPLE CUT/S, POSSIBLE RESHOOTSInitial sample cut/s, audience feedback: test your footage, test your ideas. If necessary, organise reshoots. As always be clear on what; why ... and when.SAMPLE CUTS At this stage you are producing short clips or individual scenes. Clearly describe the context (how it will fit into the full opening; anything that will be added – editing, sound, SFX, titles; if it is a shoot you think you might re-do [if so, state WHY]). Film some sample audience giving feedback on these. Does your idea work or do you need to make changes? Major or minor? Have you identified any issues with filming or preparation after screening sample scenes? Framing; shot shakiness; lack of shot variety; lighting; sound; costume or other mise-en-scene issues; cast/acting (direction?! rehearsal time?)… Has nediting this and screening it given you any new ideas for the opening (if so … post idea updates!!!). Have you used any new technology/tools? Maybe tried manual camera settings, or a second lens, or more FCPX, or sound recording? Never forget to make reference to your earlier research: are your influences clear?

STEP 9: POST-PRODUCTIONCIE AS coursework as 10 steps 9

Post-production: the main editing stage, shoots/reshoots essentially finished. Keep logging technology (editing tools, social media profile creating + updating etc) as you use them: screenshots, screen recording (use QuickTime). DON'T wait until you've got near-complete cuts, post samples; alternative edits of scenes. Seek audience feedback on every sample/rough cut/design experiment AND reflect on the results. Splitscreen or shot-in-shot alternative edits of short sequences/design elements are a good idea. Be clear what you're asking an audience to reflect on. Make an effort to post on genre/fan sites/groups. If in a group, identify when YOU are the editor. Keep making reference to your target audience; the intended preferred reading (semiotics); your audience + mode of address. Use a clear numbering and naming system for posts and cuts. Always include clear contextual detail in posts with video, and in the YouTube description - if your videos are set to unlisted, then you could screenshot the YouTube info and tagging.

STEP 10: EVALUATIONImportant to rehearse arguments and apply theory you might use in the exam. Also use to improve and develop past posts where you are now more familiar with terms and concepts (or have simply gathered material that would be useful as part of research and planning evidence.

CIE AS coursework as 10 steps 10