Evaluation for AS Film Openings

The final 20 marks for the project are crucial in determining your grade. These marks will depend upon how well you address the seven evaluation TASKS. Here is our guide for what to do and some links to examples to help you.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

In Art of the title sequence they use 9 frames from film openings in order to represent the film. Well now it's your turn to do the same with nine of your frames.

You should go through the final version of the project and select nine distinct frames which you screengrab and drop into  photoshop in the same style as the website. You will be using these to write about how typical or not of opening sequences your particular design is, so choose them carefully.

Once you have the nine frames neatly in Photoshop, screengrab the whole thing and post to your blog, then write an analysis of how you have used such conventions.

The aspects we would like you to consider across your nine frames are:

The title of the film
Setting/location
Costumes and props
Camerawork and editing
Title font and style
Story and how the opening sets it up
Genre and how the opening suggests it
How characters are introduced

PLUS ONE MORE OF YOUR CHOICE

Here is a student example from last year so you can see how it might  turn out:

http://cmdiplomachristina.blogspot.com/2009/11/evaluation-activity-one.html

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them (but maybe some differences too!), find an image on the web of that/those characters and grab it as well. Drop the two into photoshop, as a split screen. Export this splitscreen image as a jpeg then drop onto your blog and write about the similarities and differences in terms of appearance, costume, role in film etc.

Here is an old example:

http://cmdiplomatilly.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-does-your-media-product-represent.html

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


For this question, you are going to do a 'director's commentary' style voiceover explaining some of the key features of your opening

You will need to script the voiceover which deals with institutional issues to include:

discussion of your production company name and logo and the role of such companies (if you have done one!)

What does a production company do? start here
the idea of a distributor and who that might be and why. start here
where the money might have come from for a film such as yours here
why the various people are named in the titles- which jobs appear in titles and in what order and how have you reflected this?
what your film is similar to 'institutionally' (name some films which would be released in a similar way)
You need to refer to actual company names and processes and maybe do a bit more research

When you have scripted, record the voiceover on a new audio timeline in the edit program, then export and embed on blog.

Here is an example:

http://cmdiplomajahmal.blogspot.com/2009/11/evaluation-activity-3.html

 ALTERNATIVELY if short of time, write a script for a commentary and post it to your blog

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Find a google image of your typical target audience member and an explanation of what kinds of taste they might have- where they would shop, what music they would listen to, what their favourite Tv programme would be, etc.

post it on the blog and write a few notes on why they would watch your film.

Here is an example from last year:

http://cmdiplomayasmin.blogspot.com/2009/11/who-would-be-audience-for-your-media.html

5. How did you address your target audience?

EITHER: make a short video in which you interview someone from your target audience about the film opening OR do an audio interview, upload it to http://soundcloud.com/ (you will need to set up an account- takes 5 mins) and then embed your upload to the blog.

Your notes will refer to genre conventions, use of music, similiarities with other movies and what you have identified as the Unique Selling Point of your imaginary film.

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


In pairs, take a picture of each other holding the kit you have used. This might just be the camera and tripod, and your computer but there may be other things you want in the shot.

Drop the image onto your blog and annotate it, adding all the programs and other technology you have used as screengrabs and what you learnt about it/from using it. Your written text need only be minimal. You could include reference to all the online and computer programs you have used such as youtube, blogger, the edit program ,photoshop, music programs etc, etc.

Here is an example http://cmdiplomaangelica.blogspot.com/2009/11/evaluation-activity-six.html

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Concentrate on editing and camerawork.

Grab some frames from both tasks and put them on the blog and show what you know about shot types, edit terms and techniques.


Make sure you mention the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot

WHEN YOU FINISH THE EVALUATION, YOU NEED TO RE_ORGANISE THE TOP OF YOUR BLOG AS FOLLOWS:

Top post: your finished video (embed from Vimeo- we will upload it there over Easter and let you know on this blog when all video work is there)

Next seven posts: evaluation tasks 1-7 all titled with the task question

after that: your research and planning- backwards to the start of the project (at the very bottom)

 Here is an example of a blog ordered in that way:

Jahmal's blog