Friday, 3 December 2021

REFINEMENTS, CHANGES, EDITS & REFLECTIONS

PREP for the weekend of Sat 4 December

CIE are keen on reflective analysis in your blogs – the sort of critical reflection that may come after you get feedback from a focus group. They think that it is so important that it comes second in their bullet points. In the highlight below ('process'), notice the reference to 

  • what you’ve changed because it
    didn’t work well enough
     (“any refinement, changes or edits made”) 
  • what has have gone well, that you should be drawing attention to (“reflections on key moments”).

To present these important posts, I have suggested a ‘before and after’ visual evidence + written analysis 

See these posts HERE

 

Thursday, 25 November 2021

FILM INDUSTRY: KEN LOACH & SWEET SIXTEEN

This material is for Component 2 Media Texts and Contexts - Section B Media Contexts

In your exam, you answer one question on TV drama and the second on the film industry.

It might help you to think about typical exam questions as we cover two further case studies: 

‘Marketing is vital to the success of both established and new media products.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to the media area you have studied?

"How do media institutions target national and local audiences in the media area you have studied?"

Today's case study - Ken Loach films and I, Daniel Blake. Please save your notes in your laptop folder (not on your blog). Next time, we will cover Sorry We Missed You.

OUR STARTER ACTIVITY

We looked at 3D anamorphic billboard design as a new marketing platform. We also discussed making a LinkedIn profile in your future.

3D out-of-home (OOH) billboards, a burgeoning new technology on the high street, has strong implications for how marketers bring their campaigns to life. Hyper-realistic 3D OOH billboards have been stunning passersby on busy streets in China, South Korea, the US, Japan and recently the UK. The creative campaigns blur the lines between technology and reality while showcasing that creativity in advertising really is limitless. Current examples include Amazon Prime’s 3D OOH campaign at Piccadilly Circus.

In them, characters break the fourth wall, interact with IRL environments and blur the lines between content, OOH and experiential like never before.


Friday, 19 November 2021

CHECKLIST

 Posts /tasks that can be done by one member of the Production Team and shared:

  1. Mind map
  2. The actual treatment (but don't just copy / paste the post)
  3. Location recces (with photos)
  4. Storyboard (can be shared)
  5. Shot list (can be shared)
  6. Call sheets (one for every shoot)
  7. Risk assessment
  8. BBFC certificate

Posts / Tasks best done individually:

  1. Casting (post with paired images)
  2. Accounts of filming (reflective, with 'on the set' shots; challenges, what went well / badly)
  3. Props that you have made yourself
  4. Your own Production Company logo (films often have co-productions)
  5. Pinterest boards on the social groups and social issues in your film 

GUIDANCE and LISTS

To show the development of your Foundation Production, you publish PLANNING posts. Put the word PLANNING in caps before each of the following:

AUDIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE Consult this blog post

TREATMENT Examples here

MY TARGET AUDIENCE example of a post here,  here and here 

CHARACTERS The exam board ask us to consider social groups and stereotypes. Examples of this are in this post here, this post and here

LOCATION RECCE with photos like this

RISK ASSESSMENT Once you know exactly what you are doing, assess the risks in a Word Document like this one here

CASTING Note Examiner's report here Examples here in Canvahere in Piktocharthere in Slideshare

PROPS Present this as you see fit, such as like this. If you have to construct props

STORYBOARD Examples here  and here

SHOT LIST Example here and here

CALL SHEET Example here Do NOT PUT IDENTIFYING DETAILS

CERTIFICATE Example here

AUDIENCE Theory SlideShare like this 

SOCIAL GROUPS - images collected in Pinterest boards, labelled and groups: How does your film opening represent social groups or issues? Find images (= representations) and collate them in different Pinterest boards like this.

    • First identify the social groups featured and present them visually (in Pinterest). Roles and jobs?
    • The focus is on how they are represented: stereotypes? anti-stereotypes? What are they like? Gender, status, age? 
    • Identify the issues in your film opening: recent 'issues' have included artificial intelligence, people smuggling, bullying, kidnapping, art theft, online fraud. How are they presented in your production?

                                                                          ...........

    CONSTRUCTION: SHOOTS Great fun to report on your shoots (and later on your edits), explaining the challenges

      FILM INDUSTRY: EMMA AS A CASE STUDY

       Exam Paper 2 Key Concepts : Section B 


      In today's lesson, we watch the US and UK trailers for Emma and consider how to use Working Title's Emma as a case study to discuss issues raised such as

      • ownership - Working Title, Universal
      • genre - literary adaptation, comedy
      • different audiences - mainstream, national, international, literary
      • marketing - posters (how 'outdoor' marketing with high production values & highly stylised costumes + landscapes targeted older audiences)
      • casting of long-term famous stars like Bill Nighy & Rupert Graves, comediennes like Miranda Hart and new talent like Josh O'Conner, Johnny Flynn, Anya Taylor-Joy (known to Netflix audiences for her acting triumph in “The Queen’s Gambit”. Accompanying the streaming of the miniseries has come renewed interest in the movie)
      • social media (younger audiences Twitter and Instagram; older audiences FB); trailers and visuals now cut specially for hand-held devices with snappier editing for shorter attention spans
      • marketing - trailers (how the fast-paced editing, use of comedy, emphasis on romance & current stars engaged a new generation of younger audiences)
      • product tie-ins and merchandising - stationary; 
      • celebrity appearances and interviews - Vogue Magazine screening
      • synergy - the trailers appear on WT's website, together with convergent social media links, enabling a degree of synergy
      • Emma release: Valentine's Day 2020 in UK, shortly after in US; 20th March digitally through Premium VOD streaming platforms because of cinema closures; later, in May, via DVD and Blu-ray, and recently viewing via HBO with Prime Video Channels. See this article on the changing patterns of content creation, distribution and star power 
      • Accolades - Academy Award (like Costume design)and BAFTA nominations, Golden Globe winner
      • Box office world-wide total $26 million +

      Tuesday, 16 November 2021

      FILM INDUSTRY MARKETING: BLACK PANTHER

       

      ESSAY: Analyse the techniques used to target different audiences in the media are that you have studied. 

      By Sunday 21st November

      In this short prep, you will start preparing this exam essay by presenting the first of three case studies, Black Panther, using the materials emailed to you, which are also on GoogleClassroom.














      Tuesday, 9 November 2021

      TV DRAMA: HUSTLE

       Exam Component 2: Key Media Concepts (25% of total marks) Written examination 2 hours

      Written analysis by Sunday 14 November on Google Classroom
      Find the exam text on ClickView: go to Media Studies > TV drama clips > OCR 322 HUSTLE

       
      Discuss the ways in which the extract from Hustle constructs meaning through the following: 

      • camera shots, angles, movement and composition 
      • editing 
      • sound 
      • mise-en-scène
      Tips:
      Start with an opening sentence that briefly sums up what the extract is about.
      Tackle the analysis on a scene-by-scene basis (NOT camerawork, then editing and so on)
      So, discuss all 4 bullet points as you go through each scene - some may be longer than others.
      3 point plan: identify the terminology, then give the example, then say what meaning is made.

      For example: The close-up shot terminology of the wealthy blond customer with her expensively coiffed hair and perfect make-up example shows the audience how poised and self-assured she is as she smiles smugly, confident of getting what she wants meaning 

      Another example: The tilt pan terminology from foot to head of the wealthy customer trying on the expensive new evening dress example constructs her as the sort of client that the shop assistant wants to impress as she is slim and makes the dress look beautiful; by ending the camera movement on her face, the audience sees her vain reaction to her image in the mirror meaning 

      Another example: the two shot terminology of Stroller (the older man) dressed to impress in his expensive suit entertaining Sean (the younger man) in the exclusive gentlemen's club, plying him with whiskey in cut glass tumblers, in a setting designed to make a statement example suggests that Stroller is out to manipulate the younger man.