Women in film - the Bechdel test

Sometimes also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, the Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. (The requirement that the two women must be named is sometimes added.)

This Wikipedia link has links and references to many other useful variants of this and other tests, and is well worth checking out if you are writing any essays concerning the representation of women, gender, or the codes and conventions of certain genres (e.g. Romance).

The following site http://bechdeltest.com/ contains a user-maintained list of films that meet the Bechdel test minimum requirements, in case you are interested in finding some in a hurry.

BAFTA's

Tune into BBC 1 NOW for the BAFTA Film Awards...I wonder who will get Best Actor, Actress and Film??? Who do you think will walk away with awards tonight? 

Movies at Welsh Castles!!!

Brilliant scheme being run next month where pop up cinemas will be at Castell Coch and Caerphilly castle! 

Follow the link for details!

http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/about/news/movies-at-monuments/?lang=en

MS3 Thriller Group

Michael and Ethan have a look at the link below, its an online prview of an excellent book on Thriller's. You could reference this if you find some useful quotations but it should be referenced as a book.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yqRNiYpofMcC&pg=PA273&lpg=PA273&dq=narrative+and+ideology+in+the+british+spy+thriller&source=bl&ots=58vQlsKq9x&sig=xmxVqi8IXuniqEICvDnPecXHjNM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=g4WpUtLRKeTT7AbcxIB4#v=onepage&q=narrative%20and%20ideology%20in%20the%20british%20spy%20thriller&f=false

Year 12 MS2 Pre-production Task

Apologies but I am not in today so your task is in preparation for tomorrow's lesson when I will be in. 

Before films can be made, the writers or directors have to pitch their ideas to the production company. This can be a lengthy process involving several presentations and written documents such as a treatment. This process is usually started with an extremely short pitch explaining their film concept in the simplest and most efficient way. They usually get an opportunity to share between 25 words or 5 lines. In fact the original pitch for 'Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone' was- It's about a boy who goes to wizarding school. 

Your task is to produce a brief initial pitch for your own film idea that you will be using for your coursework. Please post this on your blog AND bring a copy to the lesson to present to the class tomorrow.

Looking forward to hearing all your great ideas!

MS3 Graphics for Trailers

The video below contains a range of graphics from real film trailers. Please watch this video and appreciate how the range of style and typography reflects the genre. You should then produce a mood board, blog post or analysis of several examples of graphics for similar trailers to your own production.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IStWfrMagHU

 

Also please look at the next link which shows the end of trailer grahics and film titles. Please repeat the process to compare with your own production.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9VOCiPWj_w

 

Your next task is to check the production company logo's of these similar films- which company would produce your film? Please source excellent quailty images of their logos.

 

You need to also design your own title graphics using Fireworks or Photoshop.

 

 

 

 

Year 13 MS3 Zombie Film Genre

Jess & Lowri- a useful PPT presentation with information on Zombie genre.

http://www.slideshare.net/adamranson/studying-zombie-films

Year 13 MS3 Dark Comedy Group

Stuart & Callum- Link below is a list of the 35 top dark comedies. 

http://www.imdb.com/list/6jjKdwXeJYc/

MS1 Exam- Film Trailers

WATCH THESE TRAILERS 

(Focus on technical, visual and audio codes)

 

 

IRON MAN 3

 

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

 

GET SMART

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MS2 Storyboard Examples

I found this website that includes 15 sections of storyboards from popular films. They include very little detail in terms of dialogue, FX etc which you MUST include but it is well worth taking a look to get some inspiration and seeing if you can include this for research as well.

http://screencrush.com/movie-storyboards/

MS2 Inspirational DVD Covers

Best DVD Covers

 

The link below is a chart of the 15 best DVD covers although they are from 2008 they demonstrate some really important points to consider:

 

•  Colour scheme apparent on the spine, front and back cover
•  Font/Logo for film the same on both the front cover and spine
•  Images on the spine
•  Effective layouts on BOTH the front and back of the DVD cover
•  Intriguing and appealing images on the front cover
•  Conform to genre codes and conventions

http://www.youthedesigner.com/2008/08/19/top-15-dvd-cover-art-designs-of-2008/

 

MS2 DVD Front Cover Development Task

Genre

Study the following DVD covers for recent films, read the questions and then add your answers/opinions to the comments.

• Identify the generic signifiers or icons present in each one.

• How easy is it to identify the genres of the films through looking at the covers?

• A DVD cover must attract the attention of potential consumers and so they communicate important messages about the film. How important do you think the genre of these films is as a message compared to the other considerations such as the actors, awards, the special effects, the director or suggestions about the narrative?

Having added your comments below you must then consider the design of your own DVD cover and how it will relate to comparable products within the same genre.

OSCARS 2013

 

Keep up to date with all the lastest news from the Oscars by following their blog...

 

 

http://oscar.go.com/blogs/oscar-news/oscar-sunday-live-blog?cid=AMPAS_SundayBlog

Year 12 Using Secondary Quantitive Data

Useful Links

Please remember to have used relevant statistics in your report such as Box Office Ratings and DVD Sales. See the useful links section on the blog and access information on Box Office Mojo and IMDB. 

Warner Bros. Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter

 

Media Trip December 2012

 

 

We had an awesome day in December at the Harry Potter Film Studio Tour! For those who haven't yet seen this, have a look at Stuart Hole's (Year 12) video highlights.

We will be more posting images and videos here soon & let me know if you have made any of your own videos too.

MS2 Pre-production Tips

  MS2 Guidance on Opening Title Design

Really interesting and thought provoking video that should get you thinking about your pre-production task- especially those doing storyboards!