Thursday, November 21, 2013

Mr Halsey cover work - Friday 22 November

I'm sorry I'm missing another lesson - I have to take my little boy to hospital for his check-up. However, I'm confident we all know what we're doing. The work is as follows:

1) Make sure your research is complete: film posters and trailers (blogpost here if you've been away)

2) Make sure you have a completed film pitch - details here.

3) Work on the Photoshop film poster for your original film idea - it can be portrait or landscape but must include the key conventions of a professional film poster. Further help here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you need to take a photo for your film poster you MUST see Mr Parker in DF05 (Periods 1,2) or Mr Matthews in DF01 (Periods 3,4) and then get the equipment from Mr Babu in DF06. Equipment MUST come back 15 minutes before end of lesson to ensure everything is returned in order. You must NOT disturb any other lesson or take students out of other subjects under any circumstances.

Next week we will learn about storyboarding and start the final part of the production work for Assignment 2.

Good luck!

Mr Halsey

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Film poster essential: Steel Tongs font!

The institutional information at the bottom of a film poster is in a very distinctive font - you can't make a film poster look authentic without it...


Luckily, we have downloaded the font on to school computers - it is called Steel Tongs. The way the font works is that CAPITAL letters work normally while lower case letters each correspond to one of the movie credits ('Directed By...' 'Written By...' etc.)

You need to use the Steel Tongs guide to see which letter you need for each credit - there are plenty online, this link has one website you can use.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Mr Halsey cover work - Friday 15 November

I'm sorry to miss all our lessons this week but I do have a very good excuse - my son Samuel was born on Wednesday morning and I'm currently trying to learn how to be a parent! I'm hoping to be back before too long so I don't miss too many more lessons.

You need to be getting on with Assignment 2 and that means coming up with your own original film idea so you can then create the film poster and trailer. Work through the following tasks and you will be in good shape for next week:

Task 1
Read these top tips for coming up with your own idea:

1) Think carefully about setting and genre – a sci-fi pitch may be difficult to realise with the time and resources at your disposal.
2) Avoid major stars – you’ll need an original image for the film poster and unless you know Brad Pitt that will be a difficult photoshoot to arrange. 
3) Make sure the film’s narrative is easy to understand and follow – you only have a 30 second trailer to play with. If you can't tell the basic story in one sentence you need to work on it more.

Task 2
Come up with the basic idea for your film - genre, storyline, setting etc. Discuss it with someone else and make sure you can tell the story clearly and easily.

Task 3
You now need to write a film pitch for your idea. This is your chance to sell your film idea in approximately 150 words. 

Firstly, you need to begin with your ‘log line’ – a one sentence summary that will immediately grab attention.

Example log line - from Pirates of the Caribbean: "A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England's daughter and reclaim his ship."

Write a log line for your original film idea.

Task 4
You now need to write the rest of your film pitch. Make sure you include the following:

1) The ‘log line’ (a one sentence summary of the film's narrative or appeal) - in task 3 above.
2) Brief reference to your film's genre
3) Brief reference to at least one similar film
4) Brief reference to the target audience for your film
5) Indication of main characters

6) Brief summary of narrative (what happens in the story)

Task 5
When you have completed your film pitch - and it may take some time because you want a very good, original idea - you need to start planning your film poster and trailer. First, plan your photoshoot and work out who will be in your film poster and when you will shoot the picture. Sketch a draft of the film poster and start writing the text that will go on it.

Extension task
If you've finished absolutely everything - well done! You can use the rest of the lesson time to research film posters and trailers in the same genre as your own film to make sure you are meeting the key conventions of that genre.

Good luck and thanks for staying focused while I'm away!

Mr Halsey

Friday, November 8, 2013

If you've missed a lesson... your catch-up homework

Well done for completing your Maths - good luck with the results there. 

This morning, you missed the key conventions of a film poster and trailer. For example:

Film poster: central image, tagline, release date etc.
Film trailer: dramatic shots, music, text on screen etc.

Your tasks to catch up are as follows:

1) Research the key conventions of film posters and trailers and write a detailed blog post for each. Use other people in the class to help you - they have detailed notes.

2) Next, choose three films to analyse. Find the poster and trailer for each film and complete a blog post with the following:

- The genre of the film
- The key conventions of the film poster
- The key conventions of the film trailer
- The target audience for the film
- Why you think the film promotion is successful

3) If you finish this, go back to each poster/trailer and add an analysis of the NCIS - Narrative, Character, Iconography and Setting.

Film posters and trailers - key conventions

In your pair/three, log on to a computer and find a trailer and film poster for one film of your choice. Create a blog post with the following:

  1. The genre of the film
  2. The key conventions of the film poster
  3. The key conventions of the film trailer
  4. The target audience for the film
  5. Why your pair/three thinks it is successful
Any thing unfinished is homework - due next Wednesday.


Mr Parker cover work - Friday 8/11

Mr Parker sends his apologies - he is really not feeling well today. However, there is plenty of work for you to do in preparing for Assignment 2.

Next week, we will start planning our own films, posters and trailers. Before we do that, we need to know the key conventions of a film poster and trailer. For example:

Film poster: central image, tagline, release date etc.
Film trailer: dramatic shots, music, text on screen etc.

Your tasks today are as follows:

1) Research the key conventions of film posters and trailers and write a detailed blog post for each.

2) Next, choose three films to analyse. Find the poster and trailer for each film and complete a blog post with the following:

- The genre of the film
- The key conventions of the film poster
- The key conventions of the film trailer
- The target audience for the film
- Why you think the film promotion is successful

3) If you finish this, go back to each poster/trailer and add an analysis of the NCIS - Narrative, Character, Iconography and Setting.

If you have any problems or questions, feel free to pop next door and ask me.

Good luck!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Genre - afternoon lesson / homework

This afternoon, you need to work on the following:

  1. Make sure your blog is up-to-date with your finished Assignment 1 magazine cover.
  2. Choose three film trailers, embed the clips from YouTube and write an analysis of what genre each film is in and why. Use NCIS to help you.

Anything you don't finish is homework.

Due: Next Wednesday