RAB's training

media blog

Hello to my Media class 2011-2012!

Just a reminder that you should 'follow' me so you can see my updates. I will also 'follow' you.

This blog is where I will post any useful links, tips, hints, deadline details, blog feedback etc!

All blogs/coursework have now been marked

Thanks
Miss E

A2 Media Coursework G324

The candidates from St. John's School, Marlborough are:

James Osbourne

Rosie Dixon

Lauren Whincup

Richard Wolstenholme

James Richards

Jack Lynd

Eddie Knowles

Jack Allen

Sam

Rosie Niblock

Ashley Perry

Deadlines continued...

The final deadline for all your production pieces is Friday 25th March. This means final version of trailer plus the magazine cover and poster. Also, all blog posts must be up-to-date by this point.

Final Evaluation

Note:
Be prepared to show your trailer to the class on Friday 11th March.
Please bring a printed copy of your poster to this Friday's lesson.

Here are some focus questions for your evaluation:

1. How did your research into genre contribute to your production work?

•2. How did you research into audience contribute to your production work?

•3. How did your research into institutions and regulation of the media influence your production work?

•4. What pre-production planning techniques did you employ? Were they effective and how did they help?

•5. How have you used audience feedback to influence your production work while still in progress?

•6. What digital technologies have you used in the planning, research, construction stages?

Well done to...

Lauren and Rosie - your blogs are uptodate and looking very detailed - fab!
James R - great, you're getting up to speed with your blog posts with many recent posts.

Please ensure that you keep up dating your blogs as this is an easy way to gain (or on the other hand lose) marks.

Miss E

Using digital technology: slide share

Click here to create an account with slide share. You can then uplaod any powerpoints that you create.
Slide share
TIP: Create a powerpoint that analyses film magazines and post a link to it on your blog. You can then talk about this use of digital technology in your exam.

Research: Magazine Covers

For an example of how to analyse and deconstruct a film magazine cover:

Film Magazine Deconstruction Example

Deadlines!

As explained in lesson, your deadline for your production pieces are coming up.

Friday 11th Feb -Trailer must be ready to show (including music, titles etc)
Friday 18th Feb - Your poster ideas must be ready to show, with a final design in mind.

We will then concentrate on the magazine cover and exam preparation...

If you foresee any issue with the deadline dates please discuss with me as soon as possible.

Trailer Poster

Just as the trailer had its own conventions, so does the film poster. Before you start to produce your poster it is important to understand and analyse the conventions used in professional film posters.

Tip: Find film posters from the same genre as your trailer. Analyse them using the grid from lesson. Use these conventions in your own poster. Add your research to your blog.

Remember to conduct some audience research.

Trailer re-cap

As I mentioned before you must make sure that your trailer looks authentic. You could watch the trailers on the side bar of my blog and remind yourself of the conventions.

Then watch your trailer. How do they compare? How can you alter your trailer so it looks more authentic? Make the changes and record them on your blog.

Focus for the new year

I have checked your blogs and see that most of you have not yet uploaded any information about your filming. This needs to be done as soon as possible otherwise there is no evidence of the first stages of your filming. Perhaps upload some stills and/or the first cut of your filming.

You should now have completed the filming and will be using the Friday lessons to edit your film. Tuesday lessons and Mrs Mackay's Wednesday lessons will be used for researching, planning and preparing the film poster etc.

Miss E

FAO: Ashley and Sam

Well done Ash for really using your blog to record your planning. I think the Facebook idea for generating feedback is a fantastic idea. I would like to see a post which details the comments that were made about the posters.

I do think that there is some work that's needed on your poster but this is a good start so again, well done.

Miss E

It's a trailer NOT a film opening...

You must be ruthless and harsh (because I will be) about making changes to your trailer. Check that it actually looks and sounds like a trailer. Go back and watch some trailers again to check. Do you really know the conventions of a trailer? How are the conventions different to those of a film opening?

If you're still not sure, see the slide that was shown in class.

Trailer Slide

Work for Wednesday

Log onto the examiner’s blog which can be accessed through my blog or direct www.petesmediablog.blogspot.com

Go to the post 8^th Oct 2010 and read this post from ‘step four’.

Think about mise-en-scene and make some decisions about the props and aesthetics e.g perhaps you might have your main character reading a pertinent book or watching a relevant show or dressed in a certain way etc.

Have a look at some trailers to see how this is done by the professionals!

You could then (am I being optimistic!?) begin to turn this research into a blog post with links etc.

Get Creative!

The top tips for creative film/trailer making are:

1. Ideas are important but without the WILL to execute them you may as well not bother!
2. Creativity is the product of many failed ideas
3. Know the rules of your genre
4. Now break the rules of the genre
5. Creativity arises out of a well-planned film shoot
6. Planning should be broken down into 3 parts - script/dialogue - storyboard - mise-en-scene
7. Do not ad-lib or improvise
8. Key props such as clothing or aesthetic decisions, are critical
9. Never forget your audience

See Mark Ramsey's article 'Creative Filmaking' for full details

Chief Examiner's blog...(not a patch on mine!!)

Here is the link to the blog I was telling you about today. Check out the posts and see if any of them apply to your studies. Take particular note of the 'post-its' post (Nov 2009). Follow the link and complete the tutorial. As he suggests, you could post your trailer on to youtube, annotate it and post onto you blog. Also, if you receive any constructive comments you could use this in your evaluation.

http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com

unable to post comments from school but...

Ash - well done so far, now add your storyboard and animatic.
Jack L - Nice to see this updated! Now add in your classification, storyboard and animatic.
Eddie - All up-to-date well done. You do need to add in your animatic now and filming shots.
James O - Nice proflie pic! The layout of the blog posts needs sorting as they are all separate?? Now add in your classification, storyboard and animatic.
James R - Well done so far. Add in your animatic and filming shots.
Lauren - Great so far. Add in your animatic and filming shots.
Richard - Good detail so far. Add in your animatic and film shots.
Rosie D - Great so far. Add in your animatic and filming shots.
Sam and Rosie - I can't seem to access your blogs - we need to check the correct address.

ANIMATIC AND FILMING SHOTS SHOULD BE ADDED BEFORE THE CHRISTMAS BREAK

Deadline: Christmas

Filming should be underway by now...

Your blogs should be THE BEST they can be. Check that you have completed the following:
The purpose of a trailer
Trailer conventions
Research into similar trailers - inc. links and reasons why your trailer will be similar
Pre-production planning- ideas
Storyboard
Classification of trailer research
Audience theory
Research into your target audience


Please proofread your posts.