Prelim Task

THE BRIEF, EVALUATION + HOW ITS ALL MARKED

THE BRIEF

Your mission is to carry out the following brief:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

The coursework is worth 50% of the AS (same at A2) and the marking (detailed later) is divided into 3 sections:

RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20%

PRODUCTION: 60%

EVALUATION: 20%

Your work is marked partially on my observations of your approach and level of organisation, but fundamentally its a DVD and your blog that are marked.

EVALUATION

Even before you start shooting (let alone planning) your production, you need to keep this final stage in mind. If you start (b)logging notes on this now it will save you a lot of stress as the final deadline (in May!) approaches. You are tasked with answering these questions (see below for details on how this is marked):

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

• How does your media product represent particular socialgroups?

• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? 

• Who would be the audience for your media product? 

• How did you attract/address your audience? 

• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

HOW ITS ALL MARKED [ie THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA]

When I'm marking all this, I've got to write a paragraph for the exam board justifying the marks I've given you. The grid embedded below summarises the criteria I have to follow, and so you're advised to occasionally re-read this and ask yourself where you think you'll fall within the marking scheme!
For each section there are key components of the work which I have to assess as being one of the following:

MINIMAL
BASIC
PROFICIENT

EXCELLENT

Analysis of 'Burn After Reading'

Directors and Writers:Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Actors:Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, Francis Mcdormant
Producers: Tim Bevan (executive), Eric Fellner (executive), Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Distributor: Focus Features

Realease Date: September 12, 2008
Genre: Comedy
MPAA Rating: R ("Restricted, Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent Or Adult Guardian.")
Runtime: 1 hrs 37 min
Production Budget: $37 Million
Gross: $60,335,347

Burn After Reading was set in Washington DC in America in the aftermath of 9/11 and the coldwar.

Gant's Analysis

 What are the key points from Gant's analysis about Working Title in this article?

At first Gant describes 'Working Title' as the winner. They have occupied two slots in the charts with the films 'Everest' and 'Legend'. There was some worry at the company due to Universal and StudioCanal setting dates for release only one week apart although there was no problem as the are both successfully coexisting in the market. 

What 'rule' is Gant famous for, how does it work, and can you find an example in the current or recent UK/US box office which demonstrates this?

Into the Woods (Rob Marshall, 2014)

$50m budget, global box office by end January 2015: $165m. US box office: $125m. UK box office: £7.3m. 

IMDB; the-Numbers; BoxOfficeMojo; Wiki; Charles Gant's UK column late January 2015; Ben Child's US box office analysis;

There is a greater multiple than x10 when comparing US and UK box office, but the general point of the vastly larger scale can be seen. There may seem a bit of a mystery then as to why there is less than x10 the screens, but this reflects the much higher ticket prices typically charged in the US (2800 screens v 500). The film is unusual in one regard though: around 75% of the global take is from the USA alone; this has been typically around 50%, but recently has been declining to nearer 40% as China's cinema industry in particular grows in scale.

Semiotics of Shots From 'This is England'

'This is England' Title Shot

In this shot we can denote that the title is centrally framed. The simplistic bubble font signifies that it could be aimed at the youth. This does work as the shot also shows a picture of a boy. 'This is England' is based around a child's view of England which reinforces why Meadows chose the central character to be a young boy. We can also denote that the title is white with black marks on it signifying decay and poverty. This was intentially framed with the mise en scène of a tower block connoting the film will be based on working class characters. The denotation of the upper case letters anchors that this is a statement.

Shaun's Bedroom

In this shot we can denote the peeling wallpaper and the lack of furniture. This was deliberate as it signifies that Shaun is working class and living in poverty. The photo of his dad is dumped on top of the radio with the voice of thatcher playing. It is also placed in the centre of the shot as it is the main focus. The photo is narrative enigma because at first we don't know who the picture is of and why its there. The information is being with held until further on in the film. The jumper at the right of the shot provides exposition, this is because it is a a childish 80's style jumper which helps to date the movie. The 'JULY 1983' also helps to achieve the verisimilitude because it makes it more convincing and realistic.

Analysis of 'This is England'

The film companies working alongside Warp Films were Em Media and Screen Yorkshire. These two companies financially assisted the film and helped market it to an extent. They are regional wings of the UK Film Council who are now represented by the British Film Institute.

Shane Meadows was the writer and the director of the films: This is England (2006), 24:7 (1997) Dead Mans Shoes (2004), Le Donk & Scor-Zay-Zee (2009), Once Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002). He is said to be an auteur which means he has a recognisable style by exploring important issues.

This is England is an example of a social relist film because it focuses on giving the audience a true indication of what life is like. it is written in a documentary style and the protahonist is of working class.