AS Foundation Portfolio brief (Main Task)

BRIEF 1: FILM THE OPENING SEQUENCE OF A NEW FICTION FILM, INCLUDING TITLES, (APPROX 2 MINS DURATION)

• P L A N N I N G

• TASK 1: CREATE YOUR BLOG ON BLOGSPOT.COM

• TASK 2: RESEARCH INTO EXISTING PRODUCTS

ANALYSE THE OPENING SEQUENCES OF AT LEAST 4 FILMS BY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN RELATION TO THEM:

• Study the opening sequences of any film from the Thriller, Horror, Romantic comedy genre. E.g. Seven, Red Dragon, Halloween, The Omen, Notting Hill, Love Actually etc– Analyse how the sequence has been constructed through its use of: Camera angles, shots, movement, Editing, Sound, Special effects and Mise-en-scene etc
• In terms of editing how have the separate images been put together – Think in terms of frequency of cuts, fades in/out, jump cuts, dissolves etc
• What visual images appear on screen throughout the sequence?
• Describe what narrative (story) is being displayed in the sequence from start to finish.
• Describe what kind of music; diegetic/non-diegetic/incidental/ambient etc is being played over the sequence.
• How and what titles are being displayed during the sequence.

• TASK 3: TARGET AUDIENCE

• Conduct a questionnaire to define your potential target audience for the genre film choices of Thriller/Horror/Rom-com. Think in terms of age, gender, social grade, ethnicity of the audiences and what they might expect to see in such genre films.
• Summarise your questionnaires findings in the form of a short report and decide what genre film you have decided to make and why
• Discuss how popular your genre choice is by analyzing the data on the Ukfilmcouncil website: http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/information/statistics/yearbook/?pf=&low=&y=2005&c=5&s=
• Analyse the number of Thrillers/Horrors/Rom-coms released - Box office successes of genre etc
• Research the genre effectively – find out what the narrative conventions are of a Classic Thriller/Horror/Rom-com film.

Use the websites below to access a wide range of information on genre: • http://www.filmsite.org • http://www.imdb.com

• TASK 4: THE PITCH

Start thinking about your ideas for the opening sequence of your film plot in the form of a pitch. Students should assemble at least (3-4) ideas for a film plot:

• • 4.1: Mind map ideas for your film
• • 4.2: Outline of the basic plot/storyline of the film –
• • 4.3: Highlight details of characters in the film – their role and function in the narrative

Decide on a final pitch for your group/individual film sequence and explain why you have collectively decided to make that idea above the others.

• TASK 5: SCRIPT

Now that you have chosen your plot, start to script any dialogue / action in your opening sequence on paper. Non applicable (NA) if you have no dialogue in your sequence

• TASK 6: STORYBOARD

Now you need to storyboard your filmic idea for your opening sequence: Remembering to identify what framing the shots are. i.e. Close up (CU) Medium Long shot (MLS) etc, What movement will occur in the shot. I.e.: Pants, tilts etc, what lighting is going to be used. What sound effects will be used. And where the dialogue fits into the shot sequences. What transitions are going to be used. i.e. straight cuts, dissolves, etc

• TASK 7: ROLE ALLOCATION

If you are working as a group (max 3) please identify who is doing what role in the production team. i.e. Who is the director? Writer? Cameraperson? Editor? Etc

• P R O D U C T I O N
• TASK 8: CASTING

Who is going to act in your production? What characters will they play and what props will they need (if any?)

• TASK 9: FILMING

Create a PRODUCTION SCHEDULE which will plan out how, where, what you will shoot for your film When are you going to shoot? Do you need permission to film there? What DV camera equipment will you need?

• TASK 10: EDITING

Make a RECORDING LOG / EDIT DECISION LIST and highlight how you are planning to assemble and edit you final piece. This must be completed prior to editing. SAFEGUARDING MEASURES

• OCR AS MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS
• AS - Foundation Portfolio
• Things to do / NOT to do

• • Production timescales are as follows: Productions should be no more than 3 minutes and no less than 1min 30 secs – Students WILL be penalised if they are too far below or over
• • Before filming it is essential that you have created your RECORDING LOG and EDIT DECISION LIST prior to editing. Without that critical paperwork you won’t be able to edit.
• • You must remember to leave PRE-ROLL & POST ROLL in all your filming. That means count/record 10 seconds before ACTION and 10 seconds after you have filmed what you need. Failure to do this will result in your not being able to edit your production.
• • Driving with a licence or otherwise in a college production is illegal – No Cars
• • Guns or weapons of any kind shouldn't ideally be used, but if a scene demands it then it can be used as a prop but only indoors and it shouldn't be used in an offensive manner or handled aggressively
• • Guns or knives cannot be used in PUBLIC at any time, ever…
• • Permission to film slip’s required when filming on location – some degree of flexibility if unavoidable.
• • Do show good technical skills: demonstrate you can set up a tripod and film pans, tracking shots, zooms effectively.
• • Don’t zoom in or out unless you have mastered the art of zooming. We recommend that students simply cut to a close up, rather than zoom into it. In effect using two separate shots is better – cutting from a long shot to a close up.
• • Use of older actors is encouraged – moderators like that as its more realistic for criminal/killer/gangster to be over 17 years of age, young people playing older roles has limitations.
• • DO NOT film in the RAIN / RAIN makes electrical equipment explode and die.
• • LIGHTING – don’t film at night: If you do film at night make sure you have either: External lighting (i.e: Table lamp/torches) etc
• • Make sure you follow the conventional order of Titles:
• Also starring……(optional)………………..
• Edited by…………(optional)………………
• Cameraperson……(optional)…………….
• Produced by………(must have)…………….
• Directed by…………(must have)……………
• Etc
• • Make sure your actors can actually ACT, Otherwise avoid acting
• • Use suitable music/soundtrack (Diegetic/non-Diegetic sound)
• • Make sure your production has suitable pace/tempo. I.e.: Don’t have shots which last too looooooooooooooooooooong