Year 13 - to do

1. Year 13 – to do…

2. • Evaluate at least THREE similar products – for the
main task and the ancillary tasks –
• Research into similar product – analyse four or five
short films/music videos/trailers/whatever. Go into
depth, like you did for the AS exam – genre, mise-
en-scene,
representation/editing/cinematography/sound.
• Research into 3 or 4 examples of EACH ancillary
product. Bear in mind that by typing, “Horror
poster analysis slideshare,” into Google, you will
get several examples to give you an idea of what to
do. Make sure you get a good one as a model!
• You will NEED to say something about
representation in work on Main and Ancillary
tasks (class/gender/sexuality/race wjhatever fits…

3. • In your analyses, use some theory Genre:
• Genre Theory
• (Tom Ryall, 1998) “patterns/styles/structures which transcend individual films, and
which supervise both their construction by the film-maker and their reading by an
audience.”
• Steve Neale (1990) argues that Hollywood’s generic regime guarantees meanings
and pleasures for audiences.
• Neale (1980)- much of the pleasure of popular cinema lies in the process of
“difference in repetition” – i.e. recognition of familiar elements and in the way
those elements might be orchestrated in an unfamiliar fashion or in the way that
unfamiliar elements might be introduced e.g. Scream and its sequels: certain
elements are similar in all three films, yet new ideas and material are incorporated
into each sequel.
• Neale (1990) – Genre is constituted by “specific systems of expectations and
hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which interact with
the films themselves during the course of the viewing process.”
• Jonathan Culler (1978) – generic conventions exist to establish a contract between
and deviation from the accepted modes of intelligibility. Acts of communication are
rendered intelligible only within the context of a shared conventional framework of
expression.
• Ryall (1998) sees this framework provided by the generic system; therefore, genre
becomes a cognitive repository of images, sounds, stories, characters, and
expectations.
• Genre has come to represent, as John Fiske (1988) has said, “attempts to structure
some order into the wide range of texts and meanings that circulate in our culture
for the convenience of both producers and audiences.”
•

4. • Music video quotes:
• “They now provide pictures for the songs in our heads. Goodbye, imagination… No need to think, to
embellish, to create, to imagine.” (Joe Salzman, 2000)
• “Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band…
Sometimes, the artist… will be a part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time.
But it is the lip-synch close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of music
videos, as if to assure us that the band really can kick it.” (Steve Archer, 2004)
• The presence of women is often solely for the purposes of display and the purpose of this display is to
facilitate a voyeuristic response in the spectators, which presumes a male gaze, regardless of the actual
gender of the spectator i.e. a powerful and controlling gaze at the female, who is on display and is,
therefore, objectified and passive - paraphrasing Laura Mulvey (1975).
• “Is the female flesh on display simply a cynical; exploitation of the female body to increase
(predominantly) male profit margins, or a life-enhancing assertion of female self-confidence and sexual
independence?” (Pete Fraser, 2005)
• Andrew Goodwin, (1992):
• There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or
contradicting the lyrics).
• There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating,
amplifying or contradicting the music).
• Particular music genres may have their own music style and iconography (such as live stage performance
in heavy rock).
• There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist.
• The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which, over time, becomes
part of their star image.
• There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of
looking (screens within screens, binoculars, cameras etc).
• There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.

5. • A pitch for your production – if you can, emphasise a unique selling
point (USP) and you must talk about your target audience
• An audience questionnaire and results and comment on the
findings– do it like last year... base it around the kind of production
you want to do; don’t be general i.e. if it’s a horror trailer, ask about
the kind of feature your audience think are most effective in horror
trailers or on horror posters etc.
• Location and preparatory photography
• Post your preliminary film – if the editing is sorted out!
• Vary your means of presentation. People lost marks for not varying it
last year –
podcast/video/slideshare/kizoa/bubbl.us/prezi/soundcloud/emaze/a
nimoto/stupeflix – and if you find anything else, let the others know.
• Magazine layout will have to ne in InDesign.
• Blog posts should show progress and label your first one on the new
project, “A2 Practical Production.”

6. • Produce some initial storyboards and try to
break down difficult scenes carefully – you can
produce up to date storyboards later
• Cast and location work – you can take photos so
this isn’t presented just as text. If you need
permission to film in certain locations, you must
make a note of this on your blog – it all counts
as research
• Music rights. Most, if not all, of you will be using
music from other sources. You need to get in
touch with the publishing company to ask
permission. It’s unlikely they will say no; it’s
more likely they won’t bother to reply – but post
your email/tweet/whatever anyhow…

7. • Flat-plans for ancillary tasks – you are all
capable of getting full marks for these tasks.
You can, of course, make alterations later in
light of any new decisions you make
• You must update your blog on a regular basis
and you must produce a podcast – maybe one
every two weeks. If nothing else, you can recap
what you’ve done.
• Any changes to plans must be blogged – it all
counts as progress

8. Narrative and Character Theories
• You need to show some awareness of both –
there’s a powerpoint on the A Level blog.
• Ask if you’re stuck
• It might be a good idea to apply them to one
of the texts you’ve looked at AS WELL AS
YOUR OWN
• Bear in mind that character types in Propp
may be combined or, at least, not as
straightforward as he implies

9. • When you film – make a call sheet
• See http://www.starboardmedia.co.uk/how-
to-write-call-sheets/
• http://howtofilmschool.com/making-a-call-
sheet/
• There’s an example here, but yours won’t need
to be as detailed:
http://castandcrewcall.com/free-one-page-
professional-call-sheet-template/