Coursework: Summer Project 2018

Coursework: Summer Project 2018

The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan an outstanding film trailer and professional-level poster campaign and then present it to class in September.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching their chosen genre, creating a film pitch, writing a detailed Statement of Intent and presenting this to class as an Ignite presentation. However, if you wish to plan and film your production over the summer while you have time and actors available we would fully support you in this approach.

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: Film trailer analysis 

You need to write detailed 250-word close-textual analyses of six film trailers in your chosen genre. For each film trailer, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog:

Film trailer 1: Narrative and genre wolf of wall street

How is narrative and genre communicated quickly and clearly to the audience?

the trailer I have chosen reflects the coming of age drama as the trailer exhibits. In the beginning of the story it shows a young aspiring stock trader who slowly throughout the film becomes a con artist in  his work he learns how to fool his clients into to believing that they will make money by allowing him to invest their money in other businesses however the invests some of the money and doesn't care whether they make money or not he instead takes money for himself and lives the lavish lifestyle.

Film trailer 2: Mise-en-scene -Spider-Man: Homecoming Trailer #1

What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Think CLAMPS.
the use of mise en scene is very important in this film as the use of web swinging and gadgets creates a surreal feel for the audience as we see spider-man swinging through a very realistic new York city and taking down evil the use of these features is very important in attracting viewers and keeping people interested the mise en scene gives creation to the film without it there is no spider man. The costume is the face of the character the thing that the viewers love so much so 

film trailer 3 Menace II Society- Camera Work

In the trailer, we see what seems to be the begining of a  drive by, a sequence of scenes are edited to pass by quickly to make it seem as if his life is flashing before his eyes. after this sequence, we then see the protagonist in a dark room with a man pointing a gun towards him. the 'flash back' then continues as the fast edited clips reappear. After the male finishes his speech about surviving in America as a black man, the gang within the car begin shooting. the speeches from the characters match with the scenes shown as when the woman says he should be proud he graduated and is still alive at 18. This is when we see him sitting in class at school. When she mentions that he shouldn't end up like 'DJ' we then see him visiting someone who is in a prison cell. We see the characters running and then shooting back which shows the complications that go in his neighbourhood. The rest of the scenes showcase the protagonist involving himself with crime as he gets arrested, and is seen shooting guns.

film trailer 4 Boyz N The Hood

After the boys mother tells him that she doesn't want to see him dead, it cuts to a scene where there are a lot of people gathered then gun shots go off. A text screen then comes up saying 'one out of every twenty one Black American males will be murdered in their lifetime' while the shooting carries on in the background. This stresses the seriousness of savagery inside specific neighbourhoods inside America. Subsequent to demonstrating the shooter grinning, it at that point says 'Most beyond words the hands of another dark male'. Amid the foundation discourse, all that he specifies is indicated outwardly. When he says drugs, the hero is given a container which he dismisses, when he says wrongdoing it demonstrates a man holding cash and when he says brutality you see a weapon pointed towards the heroes neck. The trailer is altered in a way that each bit of exchange is spoken to outwardly rather than just demonstrating the individual who is talking.

Film trailer 5: Sound Alien

The trailer for “Alien” uses sound effectively as there are many key elements which truly terrify audiences of the horror genre.i have chosen to look at two horro trailers to look at how they compare to one and other One of these and arguable the most prominent being the screeching noise we constantly hear throughout the trailer. This sound is so unknown to us that our minds tick away at what this might be, and in my opinion the scariest things are all figures of our own imaginations, compared to that of one persons. As our minds try to work out what horrible creature is making this sound, we hear a deep echo constantly, to remind us that the protagonists are in space, and the constant motif in this film is that you cannot be heard screaming in space, so I think that the echo really helps immerse the audience in the setting. Another prominent sound bite that can be looked at is the non-diegetic heartbeat we hear throughout, this can be reflective of our heartbeats as an audience, or even as the characters as they uncover the mystery that is “Alien.” Later in the trailer there is muffled noise, as if something went wrong when communicating, which only adds to the terror as it seems like the thing that they’re dealing with in space, which only makes our imaginations go wild, is more than a threat to humanity.

Film trailer 6: Trailer conventions, intertextuality, graphics, text-on-screen etc. Jurassic World

The trailer for Jurassic World uses key traditions of motion picture trailers to make this blockbuster of the mid year feeling about the film. One of the main key traditions I saw was the foreboding bit of discourse toward the begin where the parent said "If something pursues you, flee." sets the tone of the trailer and the film as it is unmistakably hinting what the heroes should do later on in the trailer/film. The utilization of title cards makes this amazing uncover of the recreation center that the heroes are visiting, in that it is perilous and energizing, precisely like how the motion picture will work out. They additionally give critical data, similar to the discharge date of the film, which has its own title card to make this feeling of significance around the date, relatively like it's an occasion, similar to the opening of the recreation center would be. Because of the way that this film is a reboot of sorts, there are clear intertextual references to the more seasoned Jurassic Park films, the principle one being the text style I accept as it seems to be like that of the textual style utilized in the plans of the more established Jurassic Park films. As far as intertextuality there is clear references to online networking and additionally the past movies, however there is likewise an amusement stop, or if nothing else an area of an amusement stop, devoted to Jurassic World, in Universal Studios which individuals can go visit, which is promoted quickly at last slate of the trailer.

2) Planning: Film pitch

Here you need to plan your own film idea that will form the basis of your trailer and posters. This means developing a complete film pitch that outlines the narrative, characters and more.

Title:Last chance

Tagline: his only hope to survive is to give up everything he owns. but will he do it.

Genre: crime drama

Logline – one sentence that sums up the film and hooks people in (25 words or fewer):

A young male who has worked hard for everything he owns as the people around him see him grow they begin to plot against him leaving him in a life or death situation with only one way out.

Other successful films that are similar to yours: adulthood,kidult hood,brother hood

Narrative structure – what happens in the film and in what order: you see flashbacks of how he became who he is and then see how his life is now you see his friends and how they begin to become jealous of him and start planning to rob him but its not so simple.

Hero/heroine, their desires, the conflicts they encounter etc.:if they should give up their pride

Other characters, their narrative role and their audience appeal:

Target audience for your film (age, gender, social class, interests etc.): young adults and teens working class

Complete this film pitch template (you can copy the questions into your blog or complete on Word and link from your blog) to demonstrate you have planned a complete feature film in your chosen genre.

3) Statement of Intent

Write your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Bookletbut we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent suggested questions document too.

With my production I intend to use over three locations when filming my first will be in the local area around where I live (Northolt), my second will be an estate in Northolt most likely wayfarer and my last being Northolt hills with many more locations that could feature in between the reason I have chosen Northolt hills as my final location is because as the sun is setting and it begins to get dark the hills become a playground for ideas and I will get to mess around with my scenes and get the final ending I want. These locations will be relevant to my production and the audience should be able to identify as most of my viewers will be from the background of C2DE which will allow them to have a gain a sense of personal identity (Blumler &Katz) from my production if not then they will be able to get a sense of surveillance being on the outside looking in.

I will also be using a wide range of camera shots for example an aerial shot (Establishing shot), Arc shot, medium shot, long shot, pan, and a flashback, with all these shots I intend to establish my setting quickly and get back to the story without too much focus being brought to the surrounding area this will be further emphasised through my editing , the use of a pan shot or aerial shot for example would give the viewers a quick glimpse of the setting allowing them to gain a understanding of what might happen next but without giving too much away and keeping them engaged. Another key aspect of my production will be the music I use within my trailers and the final product, the use of urban music as both non diegetic and diegetic sound will help create the authenticity of my production.

Within my production there will be a main protagonist that will be clearly identified by only using camera angles and dialogue. The plot will contain flashbacks which will lead up to the present day so the viewers understand how the protagonist has come to be.

I will be using a wide range of props to deepen the authenticity of my product for example: clothes, weapons, vehicles, lighting and a few more. These will all be used to create links between the narrative and the characters they will also be used to help give further detail tom the setting and the background of each character, with the use of both natural and non-natural light I will hopefully also bring more depth to my settings as I will only be filming in certain areas at certain times to better the story and add to suspense.  I will also be using the font and graphics I feel best fit a production of this genre as I hope to engage the audience from early on within my trailers and final product.

finally in my production I will be both subverting and reinforcing certain stereotypes with my trailers mainly reinforcing them and the final production will contain a mixture of both as people will be able to see that not everyone fits into these stereotypes however some people do.

4) Ignite presentation

Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:

• Your film idea: title, tagline, genre, narrative etc.
• Media language: how you will use conventions, camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and sound to create an effective trailer and film posters.
• Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes; representation theory.
• Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures; audience theory.
• Media industries and digital convergence: the potential companies or organisations that could fund or distribute your film; how your trailer and posters will use new and digital media and digital convergence to create an effective campaign.

Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September.

You can find more information about Ignite presentations - including examples - in this Ignite presentation blogpost here.