Coursework: Summer Project 2018

The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan an outstanding film trailer and professional-level poster campaign and then present it to class in September.

Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching their chosen genre, creating a film pitch, writing a detailed Statement of Intent and presenting this to class as an Ignite presentation. However, if you wish to plan and film your production over the summer while you have time and actors available we would fully support you in this approach.

Summer project tasks

Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning':

1) Research: Film trailer analysis 

You need to write detailed 250-word close-textual analyses of six film trailers in your chosen genre. For each film trailer, focus on a different aspect of media language, and embed each one on your blog:

Film trailer 1: Narrative and genre
How is narrative and genre communicated quickly and clearly to the audience?

Film trailer 2: Mise-en-scene
What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Think CLAMPS.

Film trailer 3: Camerawork
Here you are looking for particular camera shots and movement. E.g. Are close-ups used to introduce key characters to the audience? How are establishing shots used?

Film trailer 4: Editing
Analyse pace, transitions, number of shots and juxtaposition e.g. eyeline matches. Does the pace speed up towards the end of the trailer? 

Film trailer 5: Sound
Analyse both diegetic and non-diegetic sound - music, dialogue, voiceover, SFX, background or foley sound etc.

Film trailer 6: Trailer conventions, intertextuality, graphics, text-on-screen etc.
Here you need to explore trailer conventions and intertextuality - what does this trailer have that you've spotted in all the trailers you have analysed so far? Are there any intertextual references? Look at conventions, text on screen, graphics, title, release date, social media links and more.


2) Planning: Film pitch

Here you need to plan your own film idea that will form the basis of your trailer and posters. This means developing a complete film pitch that outlines the narrative, characters and more.

Complete this film pitch template (you can copy the questions into your blog or complete on Word and link from your blog) to demonstrate you have planned a complete feature film in your chosen genre.


3) Statement of Intent

Write your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.

Guidance is provided by AQA in their NEA Student Booklet but we strongly recommend you also look at our Statement of Intent suggested questions document too.


4) Ignite presentation

Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:

• Your film idea: title, tagline, genre, narrative etc.
• Media language: how you will use conventions, camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and sound to create an effective trailer and film posters.
• Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes; representation theory.
• Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures; audience theory.
• Media industries and digital convergence: the potential companies or organisations that could fund or distribute your film; how your trailer and posters will use new and digital media and digital convergence to create an effective campaign.

Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September.

You can find more information about Ignite presentations - including examples - in this Ignite presentation blogpost here.

Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first lesson back in September



Summer project: optional extensions

Pre-production tasks

Some students have already expressed an interest in filming their trailers over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. However, if you want to do this, you need to read this Guardian feature on how to create a film trailer and then complete the following aspects of pre-production:

Script
Write a script for your film trailer. There is some debate with regards to whether trailers have scripts (the script would obviously be for the full movie) but you absolutely need to plan out every aspect of your production and a script seems the more logical way to do it. It may well be that your trailer script contains a lot of stage directions/description but there will be dialogue (and possibly voiceover) in there too. You'll find guidance for writing a script in the BBC Writers' Room (click on the Script Library to read real examples of professional scripts).

Storyboard 
Sketch out a range of critical shots from your trailer, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets are available in DF07 or you can download and print out an AQA storyboard template from here.

Shot list
Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the trailer AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find an example here. It makes sense to write your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the trailer in chronological order. 

Mise-en-scene
What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. 

Shooting schedule 
Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it!

Non-assessed participants
You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work (both trailer and posters). Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound you used and note it on the Candidate Record Form. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work in Year 13.


Production: Filming and photography

Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film or carry out photoshoots as you wish.

Good luck!