Week 29 (wb 27th April)

This is the 10th week of controlled hours for unit B321 (hours 18 & 19). At the end of this lesson you will have a maximum of 11 hours remaining.

This week you will start your original poster designs. It is important that you use everything you have learnt about 'representation' when constructing your poster. You must represent a woman or Earth's response to alien visitors in your product (see the Product Briefs).

You should start with a flat plan showing where the elements will be positioned (credit block, main image, title, tagline, actors' names, etc). You will then draw 1 or 2 drafts of your poster before you start the PhotoShop process, each draft with a new level of detail (the last should be a coloured pencil drawing with most of the detail present).

Make sure you have researched tutorials so that you can achieve the effects that you want. Here are some links to a variety of common sci-fi poster tutorials (just to get you started). You could use the techniques presented as a basis for your own product constructions;

Sci-Fi Poster Tutorial 1
Retro Sci-Fi Poster Tutorial 1
Sci-Fi Poster From Self Portrait 1
Retro Sci-Fi Poster Tutorial 2
Sci-Fi Poster From Self Portrait 2
Retro Sci-Fi Poster Tutorial 3
A Variety of Sci-Fi Effects

Here is a link to some common photo & text effect tutorials (pdf documents);

Common Photo & Text Effect Tutorials

Don't forget the links to film poster websites and tutorials in the 'Useful Websites'  section of the sidebar on this blog.

Remember that you have to include an element of original photography, so see your teacher to book cameras and the use of the white vinyl screen (in Drama Studio). The taking of photographs should be completed out of lesson time so that you don't waste controlled hours.

Finally, the remainder of your poster can be constructed using stock images (photographs from other people). Search here to find the images you want and then ask your teacher to log in and purchase the images for you (essential collection only, not signature collection). Each student is limited to a maximum of 6 purchased images from the essential collection on this website, so choose carefully.

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation Document
• Consider the next stage of development for your film poster.

Improving Analytical Assignments

Please make sure that you have used technical language in your analytical assignments and that you have identified specific scenes/shots within the film that demonstrate your point. The difference between 'general description' (max level 3) and 'identifying specific scenes/shots & using media specific language' (max level 4) is illustrated in the following document;

Use of technical language in your Analytical Assignments

Week 28 (wb 20th April)

This is the 9th week of controlled hours for Unit B321 (hours 16 & 17). At the end of this lesson you will have a maximum of 13 hours remaining.

By the end of this this lesson your portfolio should contain:

• Analytical Assignment
• The Production Brief
• 2 or 3 Film Poster Deconstructions (research into similar products)
• Target Audience Research (research into similar films from Pearl & Dean & BBFC website)
• Target Audience Profile (TAP)

At the start of next lesson (hour 18) you will all start the original film poster construction. The first stage is to sketch a flat plan of your poster in your portfolio. See an example of a flat plan in the mock portfolio (rough sketch of poster layout without content detail).

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation Document
• Consider the design of your film poster. Come to next lesson with a flat plan in mind and some thoughts re content. Don't forget that you have to include an element of original photography (a photograph you are going to take yourself). You may also wish to research some film poster tutorials that can help you to achieve the effects you want.

Week 27 (wb 13th April)

This is the 8th week of controlled hours for Unit B321 (hours 14 & 15). At the end of this lesson, you will have a maximum of 15 hours remaining and you will be half way through the time allowed to complete this unit.

You should be completing your film poster deconstructions. When you have completed them, assess your success by asking yourself the following questions;

• Have you used technical language that is specific to film posters? (see film poster revision page)
• Have you covered all the aspects of representation? (see film poster revision page)
• Have you presented your deconstructions appropriately

You should also be completing your Production Workflow document. Have you presented the tasks that you need to complete in an appropriate order? You need to complete this document to demonstrate 'planning for organised use of time'.

Referring to the Success Checklist, the last criterion you need to address before moving on to the construction phase is 'referencing the way in which your product is aimed at a target audience'. To do this you need to investigate who the audience was for existing, similar products and understand a little about film classifications.

On a page entitled 'Target Audience for X' in your portfolio (where X is the title of your film), you should have the following information;

• A very brief synopsis of your film (1 very short paragraph) presenting a flavour of your film. Is it a sci-fi action film? Is it a sci-fi thriller? If you are struggling for an outline of your story, there are only 22 stories that exist, so pick one of them using this link.
• The film classification. Visit the BBFC website and examine the criteria for each age rating. Consider the content of your imaginary film and suggest an appropriate BBFC rating. Provide reasons to support your argument (levels of violence, swearing, sex, etc).
• Evidence of the target audience for similar products (existing films). Visit this Pearl & Dean website to see who the target audience was for films that are similar to yours (Pearl & Dean manage advertising campaigns in cinemas). Take a screenshot of the data and publish the audience profile data in your portfolio. Use this data to define your own target audience.
• Present a Target Audience Profile (TAP). See the example in the Mock Portfolio. Start your TAP with the sentence "This is (name) and he/she represents my target audience". Do not contradict your film classification statement (if your film is a 15, your target audience can't be 12-15 year olds!)

Here is an example target audience page; a development of the one in the mock portfolio.

Out of Hours Learning

• Update the Lesson Evaluation Document (so I know how you are doing).
• Consider a synopsis for your film.
• Read the BBFC classification guide and decide which rating would apply to your film.
• Visit the Pearl & Dean website and decide which of the listed films are similar to yours.
• Consider your TAP. Name? Gender? Age? Name? Ethnicity? Marital status? Education or job? Income? Hobbies? Film preferences? How often do they visit the cinema? Reading preferences? TV viewing preferences? Media / technology ownership?

IMPORTANT TIME MANAGEMENT WARNING

You need to have completed everything up to the poster construction phase by the end of next lesson (after 17 hours). This will leave you only a maximum of 13 hours (6.5 weeks) to complete the film poster and Evaluative Commentary. If you haven't completed the workflow and target audience documents by the end of the 17th hour, you will have to leave them and move on to the construction phase. EVERYONE WILL BE STARTING THE FILM POSTER CONSTRUCTION AT THE START OF THE 18TH HOUR! If there is some time remaining at the end, you could come back to the workflow and target audience work. Even with this suggested schedule, you will only have 3 weeks (6 hrs) to complete the film poster (including drafts) and 3 weeks (6 hrs) to complete the Evaluative Commentary. The final hour will be used for assembling your portfolios and checking your work.