Film Making Project

Timescale: 2 weeks of lessons and home study

Brief: Create the opening sequence (at least 2-3 minutes) for a film in a genre of your choice

Conditions of brief:
Essential:

• The film must be shot by you and the team with which you work (e.g. a partner may shoot the scene(s) whilst you direct/edit the final product). All roles must be clearly defined.
• The film must be created by you (not a student re-make).
• You will present the work as a digital text which can be shown and copied to a DVD (easy access within school is to movemaker; Abode Premiere; Sony Vegas)

Optional:

• The images and text can be manipulated in a graphics or design package such as Fireworks or Photoshop or Gimp before being used in the final edit.
• The completed films should/could be a combination of film, sound, text, logo

You may spend as much time out of school in the two weeks designing, pre-production, filming and editing as you like.
You will be allowed 2 weeks of lessons to devise. Undertake pre-production and then create the final film (actual shoot, post-production).

Development issues to consider:

Audience/market

Who is this aimed at:
• Male or female or both – how will this be constructed?
• Age range of audience (demographics)
• How will you establish the genre and audience appeal
• How will your film talk to them – what are the messages/ideas
• Use of genre conventions – will these be followed or subverted?
• Use of music to develop genre?

Media Language

• Narrative – how will the audience be positioned?
• Will it use stereotypes of the genre (lighting/sound/music) – why?
• Will you manipulate the image (slow motion; colour correction etc)
• Will you attempt to create a powerful image or something simple and functional
• How will text, logos, music and sound be made/used?

Representations

• Who will you show – use of stereotypes or development of types?
• What will you show
• What will you be doing
• How will you show the ‘meaning’ of your film
• How will you anchor or direct the reading of your message?

Institution

• You must design a production company logo for your film – how will this capture what you are about?

Values/ideology

• How will you attempt to shape your message to appeal to your audience