Capturing The Friedmans - Monday 27th June, 2011

What to do? (Apologies to Jagger/Richards)
You: Use Capturing the Friedmans to gather ideas and insights into the documentary film-making process.
You: Upload your finished notes on the film onto your blog (following instructions on the worksheet).
Me: Review your film blogs - give you ideas for how to improve them. (Remember, your blogs will be assessed for "logros" in Trimester 2. More than that - they're yours - created by you, nurtured by you, loved by you. Make sure you look after your babies!!!)

Questions?

STORY OUTLINES and RESEARCH - Thursday 16th June

Some great pitches last week:

Moonlight Productions - eloquent and ambitious. The pitch was forceful and effective. However, is the idea workable in five minutes? Who will your subject(s) be? Will they agree to be filmed to talk about this problem? We may need a rethink here...

Skin Studio - you have clearly thought ahead with regards to access, contacts, and keeping it simple. It's an idea that can work. How to make your documentary interesting, rather than a barrage of facts about the institution? That's your task for today...

Toto Productions - The pitch I heard in class contained a strong  and workable idea. It's do-able with careful thought and planning. But where is the document?? You need to be more efficient and meet deadlines if you want to get your documentary completed within the time frame given...

TODAY:

• Pitches approved - story outline
• Pitches not approved - revise idea/choose another of your ideas, resubmit pitch to class

 How to produce your story outline

• Map out the flow of the story using drawings and/or text
• refer back to the pitch
• write a brief 100 word piece on the narrative you will tell
• brainstorm what ideas will be communicated where in the story's timeline (using storyboard template)
• identify major images/ideas to be shown using  (using storyboard template)
• Access storyboard template in the shared area -   college\IB Film Studies\DOCUMENTARY PROJECT\digital.storyboard_template.pdf

 PLEASE NOTE: the story outline is a guide which will help you to plan and research the "meat" of your project. Obviously, your outline may well change as you research and develop your project. But it is a necessary first step in communicating your vision of what your documentary will be.


 DEADLINE for finished storyboard/outline - FRIDAY 24th June

l

DOCUMENTARY FILM PITCH

What's on?
Pitching your documentary on a local social/cultural issue

• lPitch your story ideas to EXEC PRODUCER

• lBrainstorm stories in your production groups

• lPresent top three ideas to class

• Class discussion of story ideas

• lProduction teams take your best idea, summarize it in less than one page of text under three headings: What’s the story, Why we're doing it, and How we’ll do it

 
 

How to present your final pitch:

• Both orally and in a written document
• Production company name at top; three paragraphs under the three headings above
• Remember - it all starts with a KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid! The simpler your idea, and your summary, the more effective your pitch will be
• Email me the final Pitch document to pwise@stgeorge.org.ar by lesson end

Written Textual Analysis - Monday 6th June

What's to do?
Today you must organise the excellent ideas you gave in class last week and write up a textual analysis of the opening to Eden Lake.

Steve's just been told he needs to complete his textual analysis by Friday...

Format?

• You need to produce this in a word document with the title Eden Lake - Textual Analysis
• You need to write in full paragraphs, and should organise your essay by using the note sheet given last week (each heading can be used as a new paragraph)
• You should include an introductory paragraph which outlines the film, what it's about (briefly - one sentence!!!), its genre, who made it, when and where it was made
• You should aim to write 800 words approximately. (Anything significantly less will likely not be detailed enough to show a satisfactory understanding)

How will it be assessed?

• You will receive a mark out of 25
• The handout provided will show the mark scheme. (We will read this together in class)
• The best pieces will show an excellent understanding of how meaning is made through film, will use film terms accurately and in detail, and will show an excellent understanding of how the extract relates to the film as a whole, as well as an excellent awareness of the film’s genre and/or its place in a broader sociocultural context

Deadline:

• You have all of today's class to write it. It must be mailed complete by Friday 10th June to pwise@stgeorge.org.ar

Eden Lake - Textual Analysis; Part 2

Task - Watch the opening five minutes of Eden Lake again. We are going to work individually to compile notes on our key questions raised last class:
a) What does the opening communicate in terms of plot, character and theme
b) How does the filmmaker convey these elements effectively, using sound, camera, editing

You will be given an editing sheet to help you record both your and the class findings.

In order to explore this fully, we need to analyse different things. To analyse means to seperate the whole (the opening) into the various parts that make it. For each question on your sheet, watch the opening five minutes AGAIN.

1) How is the plot or NARRATIVE built up here? (What do we learn about the story of the film, and how?)

2) What do we learn about the characters? HOW do we learn these things about them?

3) What conventions of film are used (editing, sound, camera, lighting, colour, etc) that help make this a horror film?

4)What themes of the film are explored here? HOW do, for instance, set and location help set these themes up?

5) What outside factors have influenced this film in the themes and choice of characters? (Think about socio-cultural factors we have discussed in class)

After 20 minutes, we will discuss your findings so far.