Inital Film Opening Plan/Idea

The first scene will be of the drive up to the layby on the edge of the woods. There will be use of first person shots looking out of the window of the car. These shots will show the viewer the figures that are standing on the side of the road, just to create suspense. These figures will be frequent just to make it more creepy. The character will see the figures but will not think anything of them. The journey towards the cabin will take up most of the opening, only a short amount of time will be spent at the cabin. When the car pulls up on the side of the road, in the layby, the camera will show the car driving into the layby and the characters will be shown exiting the car. The two characters will then set off towards the cabin.

To simulate the fact they are being followed, I wanted to use handheld camerawork to hint to the viewer that they are being watched, due to the shaky camera and the positioning of the camera. I wanted to place the camera in the woods looking out at the characters. Low angles will be used to simulate this as well.

One of the female characters will be afraid of the whole journey and will be wanting to go back, where as the other characters won't be. The female character will be peer pressured to carry on. Strange noises, braking branches will scare the characters making the situation more dramatic and filled with suspense.

When the characters eventually get to the cabin, the confident female character will start a fire, ready to cook over. Not knowing they have been followed, they all settle down inside of this abandoned cabin. Hand held point of view shots will simulate the stalker approaching the cabin.

The fire bursts up into flames, lighting up the whole area. The stalker is then watching them from inside the caravan that is opposite the cabin. The shot then cuts to black, and is left on a cliff hanger.

Key horror directors

There are many famous and iconic directors in the horror industry who each are known as auteurs as they impact the film so much. Here are a few examples over the most well know directors.

Tobe Hopper

Tobe Hopper is arguably the most successful horror director and writer of all time. His career started with the great success of Texas Chainsaw Massarce, a film which changed the horror genre in the 1970's. This was because it originated many commonly used elements in horror/slasher such as using power tools as weapons and the characterization of a killer being large, bulky and faceless. It was also a such a hit as it was one of the first films of its time to have real life events influence the story such as the protagonist, Leatherface, being based on a known killer Ed Gein.  He then went on to create other horror films which weren't as successful until he produced Poltergeist which too was very successful and is now known as a horror classic and too received many rewards.

Alfred Hitchcock

Not exactly known as a pure horror director but he directed many of the first horror films such as Psycho, The Birds and Frenzy which for their time (1960-72) were great successes. Hitchcock was an auteur of horror. He came known as the 'Master of suspense' through his use of editing and framework to maximise anxiety and fear within the audience. He also had a trademark style of his own in which the movement of the camera mimics the gaze of a character which made the audience engage in a form of voyeurism. He also set the stereotype of having a ditzy blonde female character as victim and a thrilling plot twist at the end which now are very well known and recognised in the horror industry.

George Romero

George Romero is most famous for defining the modern day zombie image worldwide. Previously zombies had no consistent image of how they were portrayed and were hardly seen in the film industry until George came up with the cannibalistic corpse like image we all now know. He tried branching out and directed a tonnes of films over career but zombie/apocalyptic films were his greatest success with films such as the Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead. For his work in the Zombie subgenre George is known as the 'Godfather of the Dead'.

Wes Craven

Wes Craven has been given the title 'Master of Horror' for his work on the incredibly successful horror series of The Nightmare On Elms Street and Scream. His work was a great influence in the horror genre especially for his characterisation of Freddy Kruger and the scream faces which are both commonly known worldwide for being the signifiers of horror. Wes was a great auteur within his films with his particular film styles which came across in most of his work. These were things such as the Nightmare series exploring the nature of reality like dreams. Scream too has its influences as it is a comedy mixed with a horror which is the first of its time and references other pieces of horror text within it which too was never done before.

Key horror films

A key horror film is Halloween (1978) it was one of the most impactful slasher movie of that time.

A quick synopsis of this movie is Michael Myers kills his sister as a child, then years later he breaks out of a mental hospital and starts to kill babysitters.

The main actress in the movie was Jamie Lee Curtis, and this was her first horror movie leading onto all the others she stared in.

Another key horror film is The Wicker man (1973), this movie is really impactful because it is a cult horror.

A brief synopsis of this movie Neil Howe arrives on an Island looking for a missing girl. The Island belongs to a Lord Summerise (a key character) The island is famous for its harvest but Howe soon realises that the locals are pagans.

Some famous actors in this movie include Christopher Lee.

The Blair Witch Project (1999), is a movie that was different because of the way it was filmed, it was filmed in a way that the audience thought it was filmed through a camcorder.

A short synopsis, three film students travel to Maryland to make a film of an urban legend - The Blair Witch. The students went into the woods but never came back. A year later the footage was found and made into a movie.

Conventions my idea follows

Setting
I think that my idea follows lots of horror conventions, that exist in previous horror films. Just the fact the setting is a typical horror setting, in the dark woods. The woods are a typical horror setting, due to the fact that the unknown can happen. Also most horror films have the setting in the middle of know where therefore a woods is appropriate.

Camera
A lot of horror scenes have this dark blue filter as light, therefore I am going to recreate these dark blue colours in my film. Talking about camera and cinematography, I will also simulate a first person shot or point of view shot to help the viewer feel like the audience is there and they can then empathise for the vulnerable characters in that situation. Using first person shots can also help to simulate the fact that they are being followed. This shows dramatic irony in other words, it can let the viewer know more than the characters. This then makes the audience feel bad for the characters.

Character
My idea also follows the convention of the vulnerable character that is usually female, or in other words the sex appeal. One of the female characters in my film idea is nervous, and regretting the whole situation. Where as the other character is confident, not worried. Therefore contrasting the two characters behaviour.

Other characters such as the villain, in my idea the stalker, will follow the same conventions as other horror films. The iconography of the character will make the audience make connotations of fear, therefore the audience can relate to the vulnerable characters.

Signifiers
Lots of horror films contain signifiers or signals that the protagonist my dismiss but the viewer will pick up on. This then foreshadows and hints to the viewer that something bad is going to happen. Therefore in my idea I added figures that will be standing on the side of the road on the way up to the cabin. This will then add these hints for the viewer to make then think, and encourage them to figure out what will happen within the next few scenes. But also on the other hand not making it too obvious for the viewer.

Horror Budgets, Box office, Distribution

Depending on the horror film depends of the budget of it. Quite a lot of older horror films had a very low budget. Around $250,000. Where as some newer horror films (in the past 5 years) have very high budgets (in the millions). This could be due to special effects improving, which creates high expectations of the viewers for the genre, therefore costing a lot of money. Also things like actors and sets can cost a lot of money to make them look realistic.

There are lots of horror production company's some of the big ones are: Blumhouse Productions, Circle of Confusion, Dark Castle Entertainment, Ghost House Pictures, and so on. They produce and make the films.

Some of the famous horror distributors actually distribute a whole wide range of different film genres. An example is Universal. But there are some smaller distributors that mainly distribute, or in some cases only distribute horror films. Some examples of this are: Brain damage films, terror films, and so on. These companies market and distribute the film for the audiences to see.

The production company's that are small independent company's that accepts horror movie submissions. They then market and produce the film ready for it to be released to the cinema and then eventually on to DVD. Not many DVD's are being sold any more therefore the production companies don't produce as many as they used to. They tend to get the film into an online streaming company like Netflix or Amazon Prime. This is probably now the most popular way of watching films therefore these companies will want their films to be on these online streaming sites, so they can be watched. The production company then gets a cut of the money from the film each time it is watched online.

Film Pitch Idea Overview

Generally, I thought the pitch went ok, I thought the presentation and images helped the audience visualize the idea better, making the pitch stronger. I thought the location was strong, but feedback from the pitch said it would be difficult to get to when filming.

Some improvements or feedback given on the idea:

• Location would be difficult to get to
• Shooting in low light would be difficult

Typical Horror Film Openings

The target audience of the horror genre depends on the age rating of the film. Usually the genre is targeted at a late teen to late twenties audience, due to the age rating. Both males and females watch horror films, but the film can be dependant on which gender prefers it.

Jaws - 1975
Genre Signifiers

• As the film opens, there is a quiet sound track behind the others taking. This then helps to build the suspense of the opening.

• There is a innocent female, the sex appeal for the other male character, that is enthusiastic and goes for a swim, in the dark. When she is out of sight from the others, she is attacked, not showing her attacker and slowly taken under the water.

• The setting of the scene is out in the middle of no-where, therefore helping to create this aspect of there is no help, this helps the viewer empathise with the innocent, as they have no chance of survival.

• Just the viewer not being able to see under the surface of the water helps to build suspense in the extract.

• When the shark strikes at the innocent female, we hear her scream, shout for help, these are all signifiers of the horror genre. Just the sound of the distressed, sets the tone of the film.

• Iconography in the scene is a huge part of the genre, the connotations of the dark blue, black colours has a big effect on the representation of the film, due to it making the film feel cold. Minimal lighting also makes the scene more intense.

Scream - 1996

Genre Signifiers

• There is another typical innocent female character in scream, this shows it is a typical horror genre convention. She bites killed off very quickly like in jaws.

• Later on in the opening, the parents can hear her being killed on the phone and they can't do anything about it. Later, she is hung infront of the parents house.

• The innocent girl references lots of other horror films which is ironic due to her being a victim.

• The iconography in the scene has very cold blue colours like in jaws to connote the feel of coldness.

• The setting is also very quiet, out in the middle of no-where, far from help. This makes the film create more suspense, if no-one can help them.

Poltergeist

The first film I looked at is also a clown based horror film. This film like many other horror films has a very dark setting set with the dark house and flickering TV. It very slowly builds up with slow quiet music. It introduces several stereotypes in horror films such as innocence through the little girl and the dog etc. Another stereotype is the flickering TV which can be associated with fear and the feeling that something is wrong.

I liked it as it had several genre signifiers with the innocent antagonist (the kid), flickering of the static TV and the dark blue lighting which is shown in almost all horror films.

Clownhouse

This opening was very similar to the previous on. It started again at night and had a very slowly built opening. The text is amazingly bright which contrasts to the rest of the setting whilst it slowly builds over a couple of minutes.

It too has very similar genre signifiers with the dark lighting, innocent kid shown as the focus, sound effects of ghastly wind and also the hanging body which is presumably a Halloween decoration. The final scene also sets the seen with the scary clown depicted on the flyer which hits the window dramatically and scares the child showing how a clown could be the main protagonist.

Clown

The opening of clown is very typical of a horror film, using both high pitched sounds and short lengthened montages of imagery very closely related to the plot of the film. Then it goes on to show the innocence of the protagonist in attempt for the viewers to relate and sympathise with the victims in the situation.


Drive thru

This film is slightly different to Clown, the victims in this horror are reckless teens. This has less of an effect on the viewer because they aren't innocent like the child in clown. However the opening is unlike the general rule of horror films, the clown theme is surprising and less themed than the clown themed opening of clown.

The Conjuring

The conjuring opens with someone reporting or documenting the possession of a demonic item. The first clip immediately shows an extremely creepy doll, presumably the one they are talking about in the background. This immediately signifies that this film is a horror. The sounds used are mainly non-diegetic apart from the very creepy backing track which in the piece has a great effect of raising the tension for the film, making the viewer from start to finish on edge.

The target audience of the horror genre depends on the age rating of the film. Usually the genre is targeted at a late teen to late twenties audience, due to the age rating. Both males and females watch horror films, but the film can be dependant on which gender prefers it.

Stephen King's IT

The first horror film opening I looked at was Stephen King's IT. The scene opens with eerie music playing and the camera focusing on washing on the line blowing in the wind and then cups over spilling with water, showing the audience that it is an awful day, this is also shown by the dullness of the colours. The shot then moves on to follow a small child on a bike arriving home. She then begins to look at the washing after Pennywise says hello. She starts smiling indicating to the audience that she can see something we can't. Then we are able to see Pennywise and the camera moves closer to the child indicating that Pennywise is moving closer to kill the child.

Child's Play

The next opening I looked at was Child's Play, it opens with a man being chased by a cop at night, he gets shot and runs into a toy shop. He hides behind a Chucky doll foreshadowing the rest of the movie. He then does some voo-doo stuff and transports himself into a Chucky doll. The darkness of the night shows that it is a horror because darkness is associated with horror.

The House at the End of the Street

Finally I looked at The House at The End of The Street. It opens with dark colours - blues and blacks and a thunderstorm occurring. The scene opens with two murders and someone running away in the middle of the night. It intrigues the viewers and makes them want to watch.

Film Opening Ideas

Idea #1
Genre: Science-fiction/horror hybrid

Plot/narrative:
A moody teenager goes on the moor for a winter Sunday afternoon walk, on the moor. The surrounds are mist and cold. This teenager goes and ventures out of the beaten track leaving his family. He then starts to realise tat something is wrong. He thinks to himself about his life, his issues, his drug addictions. He starts to see unusual items on the floor of the forest. Holograms start to glitch and appear in the forest. They start to fade and flicker. They start off subtle, not many appearing, maybe one or two.  He then follows, these holograms out of curiosity of what they are. As he gets closer, to where they were, he starts to see more of these glitchy holograms. He starts to realise that there are electronic, mechanical parts left on the forest bed. He picks them up, thinking about what they are, where they came from. His family are no longer in sight, unknowing where they are, he starts to worry, the mist gets thicker and thicker, it starts to get really cold. His breath misting the cold winter air. The opening is left on a cliff hanger leaving the audience in suspense wanting to watch more.

Location: Ilkley Moors, thick forest areas like the Chevin.
Difficulties: Creating the holograms in AE whilst editing, after the filming has been done, editing special effects, lighting

Idea #2

Genre: Horror

Plot/narrative:

Two lads and two girls go up to this log cabin in the woods, the film opens by showing the characters get to the log cabin. The journey is difficult, and quite deep into the woods. As the character venture through the woods, the camera follows them, making the viewer feel that they are being stalked. when they eventually get to the cabin, one of the male characters tries to light a fire, when the fire is lit, it reveals the creature that has been stalking them.

Location: Norwood edge, abandoned log cabin

Difficulties: Creating the effects in AE, after the filming has been done, editing, lighting, the location is quite remote, possible but difficult to get to.


Idea #3

Genre: Horror

Plot/narrative:

Similar to the plot of the idea above, but the characters changed. There are two female characters that go up to a log cabin for a camping trip. The opening consists of them trying to get to the log cabin. The stalker is watching them walk to the log cabin, as they venture through the forest, trying to find this cabin.

Location: Norwood edge, abandoned log cabin

Difficulties: Creating the effects in AE, after the filming has been done, editing, lighting, the location is quite remote, possible but difficult to get to.

Feedback 3rd November

You have made a fantastic start to the course and I am very impressed by the quality of your writing and level of technical understanding you already have, especially given that you did not work in film during your Media Studies GCSE. All work has been completed, and to a high standard and your film analysis is detailed, thoughtful and well written and at times makes excellent use of terminology and some reference to semiotics. You are currently working at a low Excellent level (B/A boundary); in order to improve your work to comfortably fall within your targeted A grade, you should do the following going forward:

• Highlight all terminology in pink. If you get into the habit of doing this for each post, you won’t need to go back and do lots of highlighting.

• Start to refer more to genre and genre signifiers in your analysis.

• Keep it up! You are on target and I’m looking forward to seeing you work on your film opening.

12 Years a Slave Opening Scene Analysis

The first shot in the sequence shows the rich white males hight up on the horse and cart. The black males are low working on the ground. This suggests the difference in power at this time.
The sound in the shot is minimal but effective. The diegetic singing from the black males, gives the aspect of sadness, and bordem. This also gives the viewer something to think about and it adds to the aspect of reality and what it would have been like to be a slave in the 1930s. There is a shallow depth of field therefore everything being in focus. This makes shure that the viewer looks at the whole picture, not just focsing on one individual thing.

The shot then cuts to a closeup shot of the central protagonist. The angle of the camera is looking down on the character, which suggests roles of power in the situation. In this part of the extract the diegetic sound turns gets quiter and becomes muffled, fading to non-diegetic instumental music. This give the aspect of the central protagonist is switching offf from what he is doing and thinking about other things. This also helps to keep a time scale and to pass through this part quickly. The non-diegetic music has a very slow temp therefore connoting sadness or loss, therfore denoting the whole sistuation of slavery.

Whilst the music is playing, the shot cuts to the other charcaters who hold the wealth, the angle of the camera gives the perspective of the black male slaves, therefore looking up, therefore the slavesless powerful. The clothing on the charcater also shows wealth compated to the clothing of the slaves. The whole film has a very old, warm tinge to it. Although the film shows and represents a very cold, racist time in the past, using old filters helps to give the film an old look to it.

This closeup of the food has a very blue colour to it. This connotes sadness. Thes non-diegetic sound track playing behind also adds to the whole picture. With both the visuals and sound added together, it creates this whole picture of sadness. The food on the plate is very minimal which suggests that most of the food given to the slaves is simple, and mainly wild. This shows the where the wealth is going in this part of the film.


Later in the film opening, it cut to the title of the film, By using old fonts and colours it gives the effect of the setting and the past. By using fancy fonts helps to show the era and display extra meaning for the film, if the viewer has not guessed the time already. By lighting up a bit of the paper, (the background) helps to present the era. Also the creases in the paper helps to show that it is not well looked after, like the slaves in the film. This can signify and foreshadow the conciquences and actions from the white given to the black. Therefore giving the viewer a realistic representation of what actually happened. Because the filmed was based on the book, which was based on a true story, making things more realistic for the viewer helps to represent how bad things were in the those times, making sure that it would not happen again.

Saving Private Ryan Opening Scene Analysis

The first shot consists of a manipulated ident. By manipulating and giving the ident a unique look for the film, helps the viewer to connote that the fonts are related to war. Using this font and colour helps to relate to the genre of the film therefore giving it extra meaning for the viewer. The font style is fancy and has an old aspect to it. Therefore denoting the past, and connoting the wars in the past. The backgrounds is plain black, therefore it is simple, and relates to the film.

The shot then leads onto a protagonist and his family going to see the graves, in remembrance of their loved ones, in the present moment. This angle of shot helps to tell the viewer and emphasise the fact that lots of people died in the war. The Cinematographer/DOP wants us to see this therefore releasing a certain emotion when the viewer is show this. By organising the graves in a ordered formation, recreates the organised formation of the soldiers when they were at war. Also because the graves all look the same, a white cross, this can also recreate the soldiers because they all looked the same they all wore the same uninform/clothing. This creates extra meaning for the viewer therefore they can connote that they are war graves dues to the amount, formation and look of them.

Later in the film the protagonist gets close to one of the graves of his friend in the war. The camera then pans and zooms into the eyes of the character showing lots of emotion, and to simulate the fact of what he is thinking. The next cut then leads into a flashback of his experience, therefore zooming into the eyes of a past soldier is relevant.

After the cut of the central protagonist the film leads onto a flashback of his experience. By slightly titling the camera helps to suggest that something is wrong, or something is about to go wrong. By adding a date to the screen help to keep the viewer informed of the timescale but also to give it that war film representation. (what we expect from a war film)

The environment around is also very blue therefore showing coldness which portrays the whole film connoting sadness.

This close up shot of the other soldiers helps to give the viewer a first person view from the central protagonists point of view. The filming is quite unstable, shaky and a little blurred. This helps to give the aspect of their point of view giving the viewer a real interpretation of the war. Using a close up of the soldiers helps to show how cramped the boat is showing what it was like in the real war.

Later in the opening the camera switches to the other side of the battle, showing the muzzle flash, guns etc. Because the shot is looking down at the vulnerable soldiers scrambling onto the beach, it suggests who holds the power in the scene. The powerful Germans with their machine guns, high up on the cliff side. This shows the viewer who is in control at this moment in the film. The shot also has a bit of blur to it. This gives another effect of the machine gun firing which helps to simulate the power of the gun. The sound in this part of the film is mainly gunfire, the diegetic sound of machine guns helps to add to the whole picture. Using this sound with the visuals is effective as it shows the viewer what the battle would have really been like.

When the camera switches to the other side, back to the first person shots, the camera looks up at the German soldiers in their base which gives the effect that they are defenceless, powerless, etc.

Because it is meant to be a first person shot, as the other soldiers jump into the water the camera follows giving the viewer a realistic interpretation of the war. As the camera plunges into the water, the diegetic sound of distorted gunfire and drowning really give the film a realistic feel and shows the viewer how grim the war actually was.

This next shot shows the soldiers swimming towards the shore, by tilting the camera to one side, suggests that something is not right and suggests vulnerability. Because the environment is overcast, this connotes sadness, coldness, etc. Also the colouring of the shot is blue which also connotes these same qualities.

Spectre Opening Scene Analysis

In the first few seconds into the film there is a title sequence, The words 'the dead' fade in first and are then left on screen for a few seconds. then the words 'are alive' then fade into the shot to give the effect and meaning. The choice of fonts and colour are appropriate for the type and genre of film. Using the words 'the dead are alive' has a contrast therefore adding a signifier and questions the audience about what they mean. The title sequence then cuts into a shot of a skeleton which is appropriate and related to the

titles. Because there is a festival with lots of people dressed as skeletons, this is related to being alive. The camera then pans around the skeleton to show all of the festival, which turns into an establishing shot. As the shot shows the viewer the surroundings and the setting, there are titles telling the viewer where they are. The camera then pans closer to the people in the festival. when the camera is about to pass, it follows a character who is dressed in all white. He then walks past Bond which then shows him looking at him, when this character walks past him. This tells the viewer that he will encounter his presence later in the film which is foreshadowing hints for the viewer. The viewer does not know this yet but his enemy, the one dressed in all white, contrasts bonds colour which is all black, causing instability, which also adds a hint for the viewer, that the enemy is up to something. When bond and his girlfriend start walking to wards the hotel, the camera pans and creates a close up of the two characters still running the same shot. When the characters get towards the entrance of the hotel, the camera focuses on a poster on the wall. Without the viewer realising, there is a wipe to cut between the two shots simulating that nothing has been cut. But if you look closely technically there is a cut that the cinematographer does not want us to know about. By keeping the shot 'running' for a long time helps to build the suspense up for when Bond starts to find the enemy. Also it shows that thins are quite calm in the world at this moment of time.

This next shot shows the two characters walk up the stairs into the hotel. Because all of the others apart from the central protagonist and his girlfriend are leaving, walking down the stairs, it contrasts them between the others. This happens earlier in the sequence when they are about to enter the hotel, where all the other people are walking down the street whereas only the central protagonist and his girlfriend are walking in the opposite direction. Also the dresses of the other women are dressed in white also contrasting her dark purple dress. Because this is 'supposedly' the same shot as the one from outside, things are still calm in the world at this moment of time.

When the two characters get out of the lift and start to walk into their room, there is another secret cut when one of the people walk past and in front of the camera. I can assume that it is cut and filmed in an entirely different location, on a set with a replica of the same room.

After the two do there thing, and bond starts to leave out of the window there is another secret cut using the pillar from the window to start filming the next part of this long sequence. The camera then pans around Bond as he walks across the roof showing all of the surrounding area and then pans past Bond as he sets himself up and aims at his target.

Blog Feedback 11th October 2016

Main Points to complete:

Film opening analysis is good use of terminology, but in future opening analysis'  maybe do a voice over whilst playing the opening behind and make the analysis shorter.

Add a blog post on using final cut pro, DSLR's etc for the prelim task.

AS Film Review

In the first part of the opening, there are idents. Although this is appropriate, I thought that they could have been improved to look more professional.

The first shot in the opening is a establishing shot to give the viewer some background information. This is effective and relevant for opening. 

The shot then cuts into a shot supposedly inside of a bed. As the character gets up the composition and framing is a little bit off as part of his head is cropped out of the frame not giving any space around the edge of the frame. 

The choice of music is appropriate for the mood and situation in the opening. 

After the shots inside the house, the plot then leads to outside showing the central protagonist crossing a bridge. As this part of the film was shot in the rain it sets the mood of the film which is appropriate for the narrative. The character walks into the shot with the camera facing at their back. This is effective as it shows where the character is going and connotes the mood of the plot. When the shoot is being taken in winter where the weather is misty and cold. This then connotes coldness and sadness therefore appropriate for the narrative.

The opening then cuts to a sped up train which shows time passing.

It then cuts to a completely different character with completely different lifestyle. The characters both share this sadness and cold feeling but they both are completely different people. There is another establishing shot of another cheaper house this contrasts back to the original house at the start of the opening. When the opening cuts to inside the house, it shows some trace drug which matches and is stereotypically paired with the type of character he is and the house he supposedly lives in.

Cutting back to the other character, there is a shot that shows the river passing which suggest more time passing. This is where both the contrasted characters meet for the first time. When the older character starts to climb over the bridge, the younger character stops him. This is the first bit of dialogue in the opening. Although the diolougue is minimal it is effective as the music and cinematography is really well done so the viewer can relates in the opening.

Markscheme

All three aspects are assessed as one of:

 

Mark out of:    60        20

MINIMAL      0-23     0-7

BASIC                        24-35   8-11

PROFICIENT 36-47   12-15

EXCELLENT 48-60   16-20

 

To hit ‘excellent’(16-20 marks) for RESEARCH AND PLANNING requires the following:

•Planning and research evidence will be complete and detailed;

•There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience;

•There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props;

•There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding;

•There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning;

•Time management is excellent.

 

To hit ‘excellent’(48-60 marks) for PRODUCTION requires meeting the following:

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

•material appropriate for the target audience and task;

•using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;

•using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;

•shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scène;

•using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.

 

To hit ‘excellent’(16-20 marks) for EVALUATION requires meeting the following:

•Excellent skill in the use of appropriate digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

•Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.

•Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.

•Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.

•Excellent ability to communicate.

The Brief

Preliminary exercise:

 

Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

 

Main task:

 

The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

 

BASIC MARKS BREAKDOWN:

RESEARCH & PLANNING 20%

PRODUCTION                                  60%

EVALUATION                                 20%