PRELIMINARY EXERCISE

Today students doing the thriller brief plan, film, capture and edit their preliminary task.

Continuity task: filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180% rule.

TV DRAMA ANALYSIS REVISION

Today we revised key terms for TV drama analysis.
This will help us with planning our own film opening.

EXAMINER'S REPORT 2012: CONSTRUCTION

G321 Foundation Production
The examiner's report advises you to look at the exemplar material provided at http://ocrmediastudies.weebly.com/index.html
HERE 

GUIDANCE FROM EXAMINER'S REPORT 2012: RESEARCH & PLANNING FILM OPENINGS

 WORK FOR TUESDAY 4 DECEMBER
You upload your research into thriller film openings onto your blog. This post explains how to achieve the best marks. Look critically at what you have done so far and then take the next step in research.

You present it in Scoopit!

Look at last year’s work to select your next step of research, such as the analysis of three successful film openings that are similar to the kind of work you aim to make.

 

• Your blog must show equal measure of research and planning.
• You are advised to see this as an ongoing process, representing the journey of the project.
• This means that there must be good evidence of you reflecting on the process of the production in your blog, at all stages.
• The best work showed a real sense of progression from both the preliminary task and the research and planning through to the finished production.
• For level 4 marks in research and planning (the top marks), substantial evidence is expected.
• The best work exploited blog form properly: lots of embedded video/audio and annotated images, making the use of ICT integral to the presentation, rather than using images as part of an illustrated essay.
• Generally research into opening titles was weak. You need to understand that research is not a ‘bolt-on’ but a fundamental element of your project, so connect what you learned with what you produced.
• You will do particularly well when you do audience research at every stage and use the results (that is, what you learn informs what you make)
• There was some excellent evidence of audience research using a range of methods & reflecting upon findings, particularly video interviews. However, in some instances research was merely a series of questionnaires & graphs with minimal discussion of potential impact. As in previous years, paper-based research often comprised piles of questionnaires, which are very difficult to credit in any way and thus should be avoided. Only a copy of the blank questionnaire and a summary of the questionnaire results needs to be submitted – not each individual questionnaire.
• Avoid analysis of texts which bears no relation to the eventual production, so that it is difficult to see what value it had for the project. 
• Overall, there often seems little application of research findings in the final product.
• Film had some excellent use of test shots and location scouting across samples, including one group who did an excellent foley sound experiment with melons and chicken thighs!
• The main issue in research and planning was inconsistency in ensuring that you offer a ‘sense of journey’ through the project. While some candidates did this well, many blogs contained little information on the post-production stage, usually petering out after listing details of actors, props and locations. References to improving skills in the use of software were often omitted. Although this is partially addressed in one of the evaluation questions, there was often little reference to difficulties encountered in editing and changes made following feedback.
• Some of the best research and planning seen included a film opening analysis with every bit of terminology highlighted, remaking an old student project and trying to improve it and undertaking a full equipment audit examining strengths and weakness of each item. In one centre, there were several rough cuts of each group’s film openings embedded on the blogs, each showing peer feedback and the group’s responses. This was then possible to use as evidence for the audience question in the evaluation, as well as enhancing their final productions. Such good practice is applauded.

G322 REPRESENTATION OF DISABILITY

GUIDANCE FROM EXAMINER'S REPORT ON G321 TV DRAMA is below

FIRST WATCH THIS ANNOTATED EXTRACT - Representation of disability.
HERE SCROLL DOWN

Scroll down until you find this clip

GUIDANCE FROM EXAMINER'S REPORT ON G321 TV DRAMA
 LOOK at the June 2012 exam extract and the examiner's report below here:
Question 1 – Television drama
The question required candidates to move from description of key technical areas to analysis of how representations of ability and disability were constructed. Most candidates addressed the key media concept of representation in the extract, contrasting a discussion of the representation of Ben’s disability with the representation of his able brother, David. Most candidates were able to engage with analysis of ability/disability and the hierarchal relations between the two principal characters.
In approaching the set question, candidates pre-dominantly analysed their chosen examples of representation in a chronological address of the extract, whilst integrating different technical aspects, for example, combining the analysis of camera composition with sound. Stronger candidates provided an integrated analysis of the extract through analysis of key examples identified. These candidates explored how the technical features could be applied in combination with each other.
However, lesser achieving candidates struggled to achieve a satisfactory balance with the chronological approach, frequently omitting coverage of editing or lapsing into passages of description or analysis without reference to representation. These candidates would have been better advised in preparation to adopt a more structured approach, basing their analysis around each technical area in turn or focussing upon ability and disability in turn. These candidates could list many technical aspects, with varying degrees of accuracy, but struggled to say anything meaningful about the representation of ability/disability, at times focusing on character analysis alone or just re-telling the narrative of the piece without appropriate textual exemplification of the micro aspects of the TV drama extract.
Representation
Confident candidates were able to analyse the ways in which the extract attempted to position the audience in relation to Ben and David and their sibling relationship. Candidates showed maturity in terms of their understanding of the juxtaposition of ability and disability.

Frequently, candidates were able to explore the status of David as a confident, able bodied young male in comparison to his brother Ben. As a result candidates were able to explore the nuances of the representation of ability/disability, in relation to the micro technical elements, for example, candidates were able to explore David’s ‘angst’ as a teenager and the alternative viewpoints presented of him as both carer and a selfish, young individual. Stronger responses also showed a good grasp of the brother’s ambivalent abilities, in terms of his maturity and expectations of behaviour and these were compared with Ben’s expectations as a disabled child. Also, candidates tended to comment on the stereotypical representation of disability as burdensome and either lonely, isolated or incapable of relatively straightforward activities. Some candidates rightly brought out that the Ben is not entirely helpless, noticing the little smirk at the breakfast table, and the fact that he does inhabit his world quite happily at times – the negative sides of `ability` were also brought out – for example the unruly behaviour of David. Indeed more subtle interpretations offered the view that even the able bodied characters exhibited weaknesses and more commonly that David felt trapped and isolated by the responsibility of his brother.
Those candidates that did less well with the analysis of representation would focus on a discussion of sibling identity and power, rather than ability/disability. Lesser achieving candidates used sweeping generalisations or simply had little to discuss on the topic, some candidates simply suggested that Ben, had few if any abilities.
 
Camera Shot, Angle and Composition
Most candidates used the correct terminology and could identify shot composition, movement, framing, and angles in relation to each of the characters and their situations and link these to the construction of ability/disability. There was more evidence than previous series that candidates engaged with the exploration of cinematography and composition of shots; for example plenty mentioned the use of shallow focus. The establishing shot of a bird’s eye view, which then zoomed and panned around the main character, were all identified well and most candidates took the time to analyse what such an aerial shot allowed the audience to see of the boys’ bedroom and what this said about them as individuals. Candidates also engaged with the prolonged use of close-ups, which were explored, in detail and with sensitivity highlighting the maturity of media students to explore these complex topics of representation. The terms panning and tracking were commonly confused with each other, as were the identification and use of high and low angles.
 
Mise en scene
Overall most candidates had plenty to comment on the micro feature of mise en scene, ranging from some excellent detailed analysis of the set design; principally the contrasting sides of the boys’ bedroom, in particular the child like and innocent props associated with Ben and his toys. Candidates also frequently commented on the use of outside locations, such as the activities of the able bodied versus the less abled activities of Ben, for example, David climbing the tree with a low angled shot of Ben looking up and supping on an ice cream. Most candidates also engaged with the end of the extract, with Ben sitting on the double decker bus amongst a noisy set of school children on their way home. Here candidates wrote plenty in interpretation of Ben’s loneliness and isolation on the school journey home and paid an equivalent amount of attention to the way in which he appeared to clutch his schoolbag in the playground, as a sign of insecurity. In contrast most candidates also recognised David’s ability represented by an artistic drawing in the classroom.
In general, Centres appear to be heeding advice from previous reports about discarding simplistic colour determination in analysis of characters and their actions, which is encouraging. Also more candidates attempted to engage with the issue of lighting to varying degrees. The most able candidates offered detailed and at times quite sophisticated analysis of the representation of ability and disability, because they linked analysis to informed exemplification from the extract. Lesser achieving candidates could describe the mise en scene, but often lacked reference to how the representation was constructed or focused too much on character function, status, family and/or power relations over ability and disability.
 
Sound
The analysis of sound is continuing to improve with candidates attempting to link music with the representation of the characters. Some candidates were able to discuss the ways in which sound in the extract represented David’s frustration at having a disabled brother, for example with the use of the diegetic soundtrack “Wouldn’t it be nice’. Most candidates could associate the use of diegetic sound with empathy for Ben, exemplified by the close up of Ben on the bus juxtaposed with a shallow focus and muffled diegetic sounds, signifying detachment and vulnerability.
There seemed to be more confident use of terminology in relation to the soundtrack this series, for example the most able candidates recognised the irony of the pop song used from the Beach Boys. Many candidates were proficient in analysing diegetic/non diegetic sound (however a number of candidates did get diegetic and non diegetic sound mixed up). Candidates also made frequent reference to the dialogue in the extract, especially the use of the voiceover at the beginning of the extract when David anchors his personal feelings for Ben when he narrates his co-existence and lifestyle in terms of his relationship to his disabled brother. Candidates also understood the voiceover technique and acquainted this with David’s burden. Lesser achieving candidates relied solely on dialogue in analysis of the sequence, sacrificing analysis of other uses of sound in the extract to analyse the representations offered.

Editing
Candidates were able to discuss the shot-reverse shot technique, for example in the family home and the positioning of the two main characters. In addition, most candidates were able to identify and discuss the significance of the use of slow motion at the end of the extract, discussed with varying degrees of success. The most able candidates also made reference to a range of editing techniques, which included the use of crosscutting, pacing and the montage of black and white evolutionary images. The montage of evolutionary images used was identified by most candidates, some offering in analysis, an examination of the David’s thoughts and an evolutionary scale, whilst some candidates were simply confused about the context and use of these images; or even omitted any analysis of this sequence of shots. ‘Jump cut’ remains a term that is misused and overused, for example, when candidates labelled the transition from the establishing external shot to the interior shot of the family home.
Editing remains the most challenging area for analysis, although there are some encouraging signs that fewer candidates this series seemed to omit this area altogether. Some less able candidates had gaps in their knowledge and understanding of editing terminology, for example editing transitions were often identified as ‘switched’ or ‘flicked’ or ‘choppy editing’.
Advice offered to centres is keep working on editing as a micro aspect examined for question one and focus on how meaning is constructed through shot sequencing and what is being represented by the edited TV drama extract.

MEGAFRANCHISES

1.  Your exam essay title: re word it so that you can write about film producers, audiences, platforms, issues and case studies.
2.  One para per point; underline; don't highlight. You may have to COVER ALL THESE SOMEWHERE:
3. GLOBALIZATION = spread of products, people & practices from one to many countries; entails interconnectedness between a multitude of countries leading to the integration into one global economic, cultural network; e.g. the megapower Big Six companies and horizontal integration with its benefits of synergies. See post on SYNERGY and CONVERGENCE HERE
4. It involves global organization (companies like The Big Six with global reach) as well as global production (co-productions between national institutions to pool resources, risk & distribution as well as global consumption (proliferation of platforms with new distribution & exhibition forms [satellite TV, DVD, internet] reaching BOTH mainstream AND niche audience world-wide. I would argue that Web 2.0 also a form of globalization, but with INDIVIDUALS LIKE YOU AND ME able to access global reach through platforms like YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook
5. Hollywood & The Big 6; Dalecki (“4-S Megafranchise Model”, comprised of synergy, sequelization, story and spectacle); Hollywood’s move from vertical integration towards horizontal integration and films whose core value is their deployability across multiple media platforms, as well as their “sequelizability” and ability to be cross-promoted with other media texts. 
6. SEQUELS - dominate film production esp. Hollywood (name current ones)
7. SYNERGY - the Disney Stores promote the consumer products which promote the [theme] parks which promote the television show.
8. SPECTACLE - big sets, big action, bleeding-edge computer generated imagery (CGI) and other special effects, high production value in any form— does not simply attract and provide enjoyment to audiences, it also increases the given megafranchise’s brand value. The ultra-high-budget spectacle actualized in megafranchises provides a robust “barrier to entry” to lower-budget, would-be competition (smaller budgets can't offer CGI). Spectacular design elements developed via CGI can be leveraged directly into other media, particularly videogames. 
9. STORY - All of the big franchises invest heavily in the development of their screenplays (Lord of the Rings, Pirates, Shrek, Spider Man, Hunger Games, Avengers). The majority of megafranchises present, and then re-present, a  hero’s journey in fairytale-like fashion— an effective, simple, and reduced narrative which then is integrated into other synergistic media within the franchise.
10. As former Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner put it : constant media synergy. 
11. Schatz (1997): 'movies, videogames and theme-park rides aren't separate entities or isolated media texts. Rather, they are related aspects or ‘iterations’ of entertainment supertexts, multimedia narrative forms which can be expanded & exploited ad infinitum, given the size and diversity of today's globalized, diversified entertainment industry. The essential UR-text within these media franchises is the Hollywood blockbuster.'
12. ISSUES ABOUT GLOBALIZATION: cultural imperialism (Team America says it all; threat to national cinemas; lack of provision for niche audiences; mainstream audiences are not the only ones to be served; disagree with Cameron & think of the loss - King's Speech did just fine, a UK Council funded film from lottery money; if 'easy appeal' is the aim, then all we'll get is stuff like The Boat That Rocked when Danny Boyle says we should be producing challenging not easy-pleasing stuff.
13.  What characterizes British films and what do global, international and national audiences want to see? BRITISH FILM INSTITUTION; what British film industry does best (identify genres: historical films [Kings Speech], literary adaptations [Salmon Fishing], social realism [Made In Dagenham], romantic comedy); we need a national film industry to serve national and local audiences and national concerns ( drugs - Shifty, ethnicity - Four Lions); small films emerge from local sources ( crowd funding: Tortoise In Love, Compton Bagpuize; niche audiences [InBetweeners (Ben Palmer, 2011) TV spinoff. How the film beat records as most successful British comedy article here on breaking box office records]
14. DIVERSITY DIVERSITY DIVERSITY is good!
15. Shifty (Eran Creevy, 2008) SlideShare here and interview with Eran Creevy here on how they came out of nowhere to win acclaim
16. Tortoise In Love (Guy Browning, 2011) How TIL (very low budget film) built its audience using social media TIL on FaceBook
17. It's a UK success story but it isn't typical (say why: Universal): Working Title: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson, 2011) View TTSS trailer here and Working Title website here
18. INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS in Hollywood are LIONSGATE interesting because they handled both The Hunger Games and Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.  They have stakes in production companies, TV channels,digital platform Hulu, pay TV movie channel, music albums; acquired Summit (Twilight Saga) SO THEY ARE ALSO MEGAFRANCHISES
19. The Hunger Games(Gary Ross, 2012) Home page for The Hunger Games website : how are audiences engaged? Best opening weekend box office for non-sequel taking $200 million. Use Box Office Guru to compare audiences sizes click here for figures and projections and how Lionsgate involved fans all along the way with carefully scheduled marketing. Production budget relatively low ($75 million plus $45 for domestic marketing= under £76 m). Movie tie-in book here. Distopian game play Wikipedia article here
20. PLATFORMS have proliferated: (platforms= hardware used by audiences to view films) go from big IMAX to small handheld, including home cinema. Talk about how film insitutions use digital media to build audiences ( film websites, FaceBook, Twitter, two-step flow model of audience behaviour); give example of SHERLOCK (I WILL SUPPLY THIS IN TUESDAY'S REVISION) how audiences were built. CONVERGENCE CONVERGENCE! SAY WHAT YOU USE
21. ISSUES include digitalization (plusses= perfect quality, ease of distribution, proliferation of points of exchange & ease of exchange; minuses= piracy, loss of income, piracy 'haemorrages income'.
22. ISSUES include Web 2.0 = interactivity, consumers as producers Ridley Scott: Life In a Day is a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010,” said Kevin Macdonald."I hope it will be something that will open people's eyes to the possibilities of user-generated film."
23. TRENDS? Newspaper reports and trends: serials, sequels, superheroes, CGI, IMAX? CGI? 3D? Web 2.0 and user generated content? Certainly sequels....Avatar and CGI trends Read this PDF on Avatar's use of digital technology here.
24. The FDA 2012 annual report on the British film industry; the winners and losers
25. GOOD LUCK GOOD LUCK GOOD LUCK!!

G322 FILM INDUSTRY

VISIT THE BFI PAGE HERE

READ KEVIN MAHER HERE

Today we make an essay plan on digitization in the film industry.

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of film? (January 2012)

To help us with this January 2012 question we look at  the examiner's report HERE ON OUR CLASS BLOG

• Start by pointing out that digitization affects all media industries as well as film (newspapers, music, games, DVD)
• We discuss how to go logically through the process from production, to distribution, to exhibition then to consumption.
• We construct topic sentences that will drive each paragraph
• We use specific examples to support each comment
• We refer to ourselves as audiences: 'I tend to watch...' 'I prefer the big screen for... but my iPad when...'
• We quote critics to illustrate points; today it is Kevin Maher HERE attacking Hollywood blockbusters
• We plan in alternative views / exceptions as the question will perhaps read 'To what extent..?' So, in digitization, we draw attention to the ways in which non-digital methods are still effectively employed in distribution; how pirates exploit digitization; how indies in the industry suffer; how British film needs to be supported and so on.
• We make good use of examples of interactivity, how Web 2.0 has transformed consumers into producers and distributors, cutting out the middle man: disintermediation.
• We visit the BFI site to look at its role in the digital roll-out: the Digital Distribution Fund
• Advantages of digital distribution: durability, sound & vision quality, ease of distribution, cost, flexibility; issues of niche / minority audiences; sub-titling & audio description, rural audiences.
• Multiplexes and indies 
• What exit polls tell us BFI exit polls

G322 SKYFALL

Today we look at aspects of Institution and Audience in relation to one of our case studies, Skyfall.
We examine reasons for its appeal; we consider critic Kevin Maher's criticisms of blockbuster films such as this.Read the ARTICLE HERE

January 2012 exam paper