Tasks to be Completed before Christmas

I know that a number of you have missed lessons recently due to illness and mock exams. Please remember that it is completely up to you to find out what you have missed and catch up on any work and information that you need.

In an effort to get us all to the same point this is a list of tasks that have been set recently and their due dates. Please ensure that they are all completed by the due dates (that are all before Christmas!) with the exception of the final micro analysis which is due in January.

Year 12 Film Studies - Tasks to Complete

And here is a nice Christmas tree to remind you that the holidays are soooo close... A time to relax and get nice presents and watch useless television so now, whilst you have a few days remaining at school, DO YOUR WORK.

Film Story Ideas

Most of you are now decided on the genre of film that you are going to create for your practical coursework. You must bear the conventions of your genre in mind when you are developing the story idea for your storyboard.

Storyboard genre ideas from slayas

 

Your task is to develop a story idea for an entire film. An idea is the starting point for any practical work and, as such, it is worth spending some timeworking through an idea to make it as good as it can get.

 

 

 

An idea initially develops into an outline for a story and then may begin to grow characters. At this stage, it is important to keep control of the idea to stop it spiralling off into unstructured developments. This can be done very easily by applying a simple set of questions:

 

1. What is the situation? This opens the story and may well be disrupted.
2. Whose situation is it? This defines the lead character (or protagonist).
3. What is the central quest? This relates to the main body of the story and is oftern defined by a lead character trying to restore what has been disrupted. This is where most conflict and drama arises in a story (and is often simply described as the conflict).
4. Who stands in the way of success? This defines another principal character, who will be in opposition to the lead character (and is often referred to as the antagonist).
5. How does the quest end? Often this will be where the antagonist is defeated, and the protagonist's situation is restored. This is often called the resolution. 

The work you have done with Mrs Quoroll about the narrative theories of Todorov and Propp should also help you to structure a story.

Once your story is fleshed out you need to make sure that it is a filmic idea. This means a story that involves action - not necessarily fights and car chases, but rather activity - characters doing things on screen. Activity is visual and this is most important in film stories. Activity tells an audience not only about the events, but also about the characters performing those events.

It is from this full story idea that you will select an extract to create your storyboard from.

Genre Presentations

The idea behind the presentation is for you to start thinking about the story behind your storyboard. If you have an idea for characters or a narrative then you will have a particular genre in mind.

Create a presentation about the genre of your choice in which you display your knowledge of genre conventions, narrative features, important iconography, key character or locations, common themes, sub-genres and even stars we would associate with the chosen genre.

Below is an example of a presentation on the Western genre.

Western - Conventions, History and Examples

'Milk' Resources

Below is a case study of the film Milk [2008] that we watched last week.

Milk Case Study

Adapted from FilmEdu resources.

FM1 Micro Analysis Coursework

By now, you should all have a film, extract and micro-features to analyse chosen for your coursework. If you were absent on Friday and have not made a final decision the please email Miss Ryan this weekend with film clips you are considering.

We are going to dedicate periods 2 and 3 on Tuesday to the coursework. You will be able to work on it for two solid hours in school so you will need to remember:

1. Over this weekend, work on your micro-analysis. Save the changes you make and ensure that the piece of work that is furthest along is saved into your Dropbox folder so that you can access it in school
2. Bring a copy of your film or your chosen extract (digital version or DVD)
3. Bring your headphones

You will be in Room 110 for periods 2 and 3 on Tuesday.

 

The deadline for your micro-analysis draft is Monday 26th November 2012



Dropbox

Another genius idea to make your lives easier!

Follow this link and sign up to Dropbox: http://db.tt/YcqPYd16

Exploring Section A

Hello Year 12,

I hope that you have had a good holiday and have made excellent progress with your micro analysis.  I wanted to give you a preview of some of our work for next half-term.  In my lessons, we will focus on aspects of the Section A exam.   We will start with an investigation of the production, distribution (including marketing) and exhibition of films.  The following link to the micro site from the Film Distributors' Association (FDA) is excellent, as it allows you to explore the essential life of a film after its production phase.

http://www.launchingfilms.tv/

Key questions to explore are:

What happens to a film when the producers and director have completed it?

How does it get into cinemas and how do audiences become aware of it and interested in seeing it?

Please take a look and watch some of the clips as this will inform our learning next week.

Mrs Q

Just Checking In

Hello all,

Just popping by to see how you're getting on with your Face/Off micro-analyses. If you are stuck then please do email me and remember to try to send me some ideas that you've had for your film clips as soon as possible so that I can check them out for you.

If you haven't started your micro analysis then do so as soon as possible.

Hope you're enjoying your break,

Miss Ryan

Twilight Micro Analysis Example

The original posting can be found here with the example of a short micro analysis : http://filmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/below-is-mini-sample-of-micro-analysis.html

Remember that your analysis should be of a clip that is 3-5 minutes in length and you should write 1500 words. The length of the Twilight film clip is only about 60 seconds and the word count is approx 180 words... As I may have mentioned in class, it is extremely hard to find a decent scene for analysis in this film. Don't use Twilight!

Fabulous Phone App for Cinemagoers

 

Run Pee tells you when to run to the loo during a film without missing anything important and tells you what's happening in the film while you're away. Brilliant.

Casino Royale Clip

For Task Two: Complete activities in the blue box on page 55

Task One is on the post below this.

Cinematography: Homework Due Thurs 18th Oct

You will need your AS textbook to complete this homework and the films clips needed will be posted below.

If there is any terminology that you do not recognise (e.g. two-shot) then research them and make notes on what you find out. Remember, that as A Level students you should be doing your own research outside of lessons and your AS textbook is a perfect place to start. The entire first chapter, 'Exploring Film Form', covers all of the micro-elements needed for your micro analysis coursework in excellent detail.

As usual, if you have any questions regarding the work then please email or comment below as I am not in on Wednesdays.

Miss Ryan


Task One:
Complete the activity in the blue box on pages 53-54.

Once the activity is complete, read the case study on pages 54-55.

Task Two:
Complete the activities on Casino Royale in the blue box on page 55.

The film clip will be in a seperate posting.

Attention, Sophie!

Hi Sophie,

This is your reminder to bring in the Taken DVD on Monday so that I can check your chosen scene.

Thank you!

Face/Off Resources

Over half term you will omplete a micro analysis on this opening sequence from the film Face/Off [Woo, 1997]. These resources are here so that you can familiarise yourself with the sequence before you begin your writing.

Face Off Stills

Film Studies Students at the Movies

http://www.stedcamp.bham.sch.uk/51/latest-news/article/13/film-studies-students-at-the-movies

On Tuesday 2nd October, 30 Film Studies students from our GCSE and A Level classes spent the morning at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham. The purpose of the visit was to gain a better insight into the cinema experience outside of the Multiplexes that students are so familiar with as well as to enhancing students' understanding of cinema history and the processes of film Production, Distribution and Exhibition.

Whilst at The Electric, students took part in a Q&A session with the manager, Sam Bishop, a tour of the projection booth and a chance to see how film projection has changed from 35mm film to digital. They were then, laden down with snacks from the concessions bar, given a private screening of The Last Projectionist - a film produced, directed and edited by the staff at The Electric in their very own film studio. The film gave students a chance to gain a real insight into the changes in British cinema since 1909 when The Electric first opened and will be an excellent support to their exam courses and understanding of film producers and audiences.

Thank you to Sam and the team for their hospitality and for treating the students to a boutique cinema experience.

Miss Ryan

http://www.thelastprojectionist.co.uk/
http://www.theelectric.co.uk/

Feed My Inbox

For those of who who have not already subscribed to Feed My Inbox, please do so by clicking the image below:

All you need to do is paste the URL of this blog and enter your email address. Then, every time there is a new post on this blog, you will receive an email update which will summarise the post and remind you to check and see what the new information is.

Presentation Documents

Below are the documents that your presentations are to be based on.

Remember, once your A4 handouts are completed you will need to have 18 copies for the lesson. Come and see me BEFORE the lesson (Tuesday afternoon or Thursday before school) to copy them for you if you can't get it done any other way.

Miss Ryan

01 Film - How It All Started
02 the Early Days of Film
03 Sound and the Studio System
04 Scandals Undershirts and the Depression
05 the End of the Studio System
06 Indies
07 Appealing to the Box Office

Monday 24th September

Our Year 12 Lesson on Monday 24th September during period 2 will be in the LRC, not in the Meeting Room.

Miss Ryan

Year 12 Presentation Task

The History of Western Cinema

As a class, we will help to ensure that everyone in the class has a rounded knowledge of the history of Western cinema from its beginnings to some of its modern developments.

Topics covered will be:

·         Film: How it all started

·         The Early Days of Film

·         Sound and the Studio System

·         ‘Scandals, Undershirts and the Depression’

·         The End of the Studio System

·         ‘Indies’ and Film Ratings

·         Appealing to the Box Office

TASK: Working in groups of twos or threes you will have one of the topics to cover. You will be given a rather uninspiring looking pack of notes and it is your job to summarise the information, locate the most important and interesting pieces and turn them into a fabulous presentation.

How you present the information is up to you but you will need to have following:

·         A PowerPoint display to support your presentation
·         Movie clips – usually hyperlinked from YouTube or similar
·         A one page handout that summarises the information from your presentation
·         And everyone must have a speaking part in the presentation

Presentations will be given on Thursday 27th September in our Period 4 lesson in G9.

If you have any questions or need any support please email me or comment below.

Comment Below

If you are in the Year 12 class and have seen the two new posts this weekend, please comment below with your first name.

Yes, I am checking up on whether you're looking at the blog - the state of the collage homeworks would suggest that very few of you are!

Miss Ryan x

World's Earliest Colour Film Footage

For the story that I mentioned on Friday click here.

My Son the Fanatic Homework

Your homework task is to complete the four activities on Page 80 of the AS Film Studies textbook, which you all have a copy of.

You will need your textbooks in lesson on TUESDAY.

The work is due on Wednesday 19th September in your lesson with Mrs Quoroll. Make sure you have your classwork books in your lesson with me on Tuesday 18th.

A reminder: If you haven't already, then please go to www.feedmyinbox.com to be updated by email each time this blog is updated.

Collage Homework

For those of you who didn't get a chance to copy down the homework, or were absent on Friday:

Task: Create a collage to show all that you know and love about film.
It is important that your collage is not just a load of pictures but it should contain quotations, information about the film industry, examples of advertising, your favourite actors, cinema ticket stubs and anything else you can think of. You should demonstrate any knowledge you have of film already and show evidence of film being all around us.

Due Friday 14th September

Welcome to AS Film Studies 2012-2013

By now you should have a good idea of what is expected of you over the next year of study. Remember, if there is anything you are unsure of then you must make sure you ask.

Please complete the following learning log as a review activity in your Film Studies exercise book.

Learning Log
- Right now I am feeling...
- I am excited by...
- To be successful in A Level Film I need to...
- My teachers could help me by...
- I would like to know...

Finally, make a note of these two homework tasks in your planner:
The small task
Go to: http://www.empireonline.com/ and sign up to their weekly newsletter at the top of the Empire website. As a Film Studies student it will be really important for you to stay up to date with the world of film and Empire is a great way to do that.

The big task:
Create a film collage.
On it you should show the kind of film that you are interested in, demonstrate any knowledge you have of film already and show evidence of film being all around us.
It should be LARGE... Think bigger than A3!
Due: Friday 14th September

Home Cinema Day

Today is...

What will you be watching?
http://scalabeyond.com/home-cinema-day/

A2 Exam Tips from Mrs Q

Year 13 you can do it! I want you to shine in the exam. The end is in sight, keep focused and make sure that you are fully prepared. My top tips:

1. Revise set scenes from all of the films we have studied, remember you need to show excellent filmic knowledge.

2. Use the WJEC past student scripts to support your revision.

3. Plan out possible responses to the exam questions.

4. Learn key words and quotes to support your responses in the exam.

5. Remember, that for Urban Stories the challenge is to compare and contrast.

6. For Vertigo remember to reflect on how the critical framework has deepened your thinking and understanding.

Keep calm and carry on revising. Remember, the A2 Textbook is excellent bedtime reading!!

Good luck,

Mrs Q


Here are some handy revision materials:

5 techniques for_film_analysis[1]

View more presentations from altonprincess.

2011 a2 film[1]

View more documents from altonprincess.

Summer 2010[1]

View more documents from altonprincess.

Vertigo blog[1]

View more presentations from altonprincess.

Winter 2011[1]

View more documents from altonprincess.

Year 13 urban stories 1[1]

View more documents from altonprincess.

Yr 13 Vertigo 2

View more documents from altonprincess.

Back to Business

After a bit of a blogging hiatus we are good and ready to get back on track.

Well done to the AS group who have handed in their FM1 coursework folders and sat their FM2 exam - this post is for you!

Mrs Godwin will be furnishing you with the details of this project which will help you to transition from AS to A2 level work in Film Studies. It builds on, and refreshes, the work you have done for FM1 and FM2 and offers some good preparation for the demands of your FM3 coursework. Below is a copy of the project as it stands; there may be some alterations made to it but you can still look over the document and prepare yourself for the next half term.

Transition project update 2012

View more documents from altonprincess.

The very best of luck to the Year 13 students who are sitting their FM4 exam on the 21st June. Some revision materials will be posted over the next few days.

All A-Level students may also want to pop over to the new blog at gcsefilmstudiesatcampion.blogspot.com and impart some of your A-Level wisdom to our new recruits.

Miss Ryan