Coursework: Working Progress

Due to the amount of coursework changes and dedicated time to my other subjects I haven't had a lot of time to post on my blog about a range of different media related topics.

So to show you, my audience, how my coursework is progressing.  Below is the 3rd draft of my poster. I still have a lot of work to do on it, however I like the overall idea of it and the way it looks so far :) 

Genre - Mixed Signals

This is another link post (sorry), so i'm going to make this post short and sweet
 ( well try to anyway :) )

I know most of my blog posts have a link or reference to the media edusite website , however it gave me lots of information on how to classify my coursework into a genre.

When deciding on the genre I went straight into thinking about my idea. Using this method I confused myself so I went back to stage 1 in the planning process and got into researching different types of genre, to work out which ones are the best suited to my coursework idea.

The link below is a television  drama genre , however it give a list of why drama's are classed the way they are.

http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/television-drama-codes-conventions/

From using this link I decided that my idea may have drama, however it wasn't enough for my film idea to be classed in the drama genre.

Although the link didn't help me, I hope you , my readers, do find it useful :)

Script: Sneaky Peak

Previously Unposted

When I started to think about writing my script I decided to write the whole script out first and then change it after I had a basis to work on.

Reading through my script I wrote down a list of things I would like to change and try writing differently.

Below is a typed out list of the things I wanted to change to make my script look professional:
* Change protagonists age to 6 years old.
*Add in INT. and EXT. to every scene
* Capitalize important words e.g. actions/props
*Capitalize all characters names.

Here is a snippet of my script:

INT- LIVING ROOM- DAY

 4 YEAR OLD LAUREN is KNEELING on the LIVING ROOM LAMINATED FLOOR, playing PEEK-A-BOO with LEWIS her 1 YEAR OLD BABY BROTHER.

The faint sound a RAISED VOICES can be heard.

LAUREN’S MUM, TARA, SHOUTS up to her from the KITCHEN.

TARA

‘LAUREN, change LEWIS’ NAPPY FOR ME PLEASE’

LAUREN

‘YES MUM.’

LAUREN RUNS to the TOP of the KITCHEN STAIRS and takes the BABY CHANGING BAG, and DRAGS it back to where LEWIS is on the FLOOR.

LAUREN

‘LEWIS, your big sister is going to change your nappy.... again’

LAUREN starts to change LEWIS’ NAPPY, and the RAISED VOICES start to get LOUDER. SECONDS later the DOORBELL RINGS and the RAISED VOICES immediately STOP.

LAUREN finishes changing LEWIS and RUNS to the FRONT DOOR to answer it.  She PULLS OPEN the DOOR and SMILES at the MALE FIGURE STANDING OUTSIDE.

LAUREN

‘Hi Uncle John, Mum and Dad are in the kitchen’

UNCLE JOHN WALKS through the FRONT DOOR and into the LIVING ROOM. LAUREN SHOUTS down the STAIRS to her parents.

LAUREN

MUM...DAD... UNCLE JOHN IS HERE’

UNCLE JOHN, looks at LAUREN and gives her a SMALL PINK GIFT BAG.

UNCLE JOHN

I thought you might like to borrow this book. I have just finished reading it and I thought you might like it. 

I hope this sneak peak of my script helps any of you media fans to either create your own script or to see how a script can be put together :) 

Comments and E-mails welcome. 

BARB: Evaluation Links

Previously Unposted

Using the internet has become a very easy way for me to collect all of the information that I need. To help me write up my coursework evaluation I used a range of different websites. Some of them I have already added to previous posts. However here are a few that I have only just recently used.

http://www.barb.co.uk/whats-new? 

The link below is a massive internet database that collects weekly and monthly viewings of all television shows. The website is called BARB and it stands for Broadcasters, Audience and Research Board. I did check with my teacher that it would be a trusted source to use within my evaluation. I was informed that this particular website is an excellent source to use because it is trusted by all examiners and gives up-to-date information. 

Hope these websites help you find the information you need :)

Media Studies 2: Coursework Research

Previously Posted on 17/3/13
When looking at true story films, I looked at the target audience for ‘The Lovely Bones’, which is mainly the female population, ages 13-20+. It would also target crime/mystery lovers, true movie fans and fans of the original book.

Using the website http://www.barb.co.uk I found that ‘Call the Midwife’ had a ratings of 10.18 million viewers on 30^th December 2012 and 10.85 million viewers on the 3^rd February 2013. This shows there’s a huge audience out there that enjoy watching films/TV programmes based on real life. This research helps with my marketing campaign as it shows that I need to persuade a wide audience range to see my film.I also found the last ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ rating was 42,000 viewers on 28^th March 2010, which again shows there is   a wide audience range.

Questionnaires for my focus group

I undertook primary research through a focus group by asking them questions about my idea, noted down their answers and adapted my work towards their responses. From this I decided to target my film towards the female population aged 12 +. Using the website http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/12a-and-12 I looked at the requirements of the 12 age rating. I kept this age rating as it allows me to retain most of the real story, without offending the audience. 

As my film covers a range of genres, it will appeal to the general population. My primary target audience is the female population aged between 12-30 years old, as the protagonist is shown through the stages of her life as she grows up, and true movie fans as this is a different type of true story. My secondary target audience would be fantasy-drama lovers (mentioned above), and would appeal to them through the concepts of the film. 

I went on the look at audience demographics. Using; http://www.howtodothings.com/business/a3607-how-to-identify-a-target-market.html helped me to justify my target audience clearly. Everyone in the world is categorised into a ‘class’ which are:  upper class, who are the very rich e.g. The Queen, middle class who have enough money to live a luxurious life style e.g. Manager, and working class, who are average/everyday, people e.g. shop assistants. Due to this their incomes are considerably different which would affect my target audience of my film.  My target audience involves the working class more as they would understand the plot line more and are more likely to have gone through something similar/ know someone who has. I’m going to target mainly the female population, as the film is female based, aged between 12-30. This is my primary audience. I also looked at the psychographics for my film.The personality of the audience is significant as the more ‘timid’/shy person is more likely to watch my film than a ‘bold’/outgoing person. The interests/hobbies of the audience is significant as not everyone likes true story movies.

Knowing  target audience, I researched audience theories. The one that applies to my work is the uses and gratification theory because it reflects my work and it shows how an audience relates to what they see, which is how I want my target audience to react to my film.

Media Studies 2:Starting the Investiagtion

Previously Posted on 12/3/13- 

As part of my coursework I had to write an investigation to show how I researched the genre of my film idea and how I used my research within my production pieces.  Below is the first part of my investigation. 

My coursework project required to come up with a film idea and make it come to life. I decided to create a script for my pre-production and a teaser poster and a DVD cover for my production tasks. I chose this option because through my practice task, I enjoyed experimenting with the dialogue, which lets me be more creative.

My film idea has a range of genres combined into one plot. The main genre is true story, which means that it is non-fiction and factual. I chose this genre as a friend of mine had an unpleasant childhood and I wanted to show how, not everyone has the ‘perfect life’ and how they deal with these imperfections. To ensure anonymity, I altered the characters names and situations so more people could relate to the idea. As this story is close to my heart I studied the codes and conventions of the genre, to ensure my information was correct, shown opposite.

Using http://www.filmsite.org/subgenres2.html I looked at other genre types and chose fantasy-drama as they interlink with my main genre. The fantasy part interlinks as the protagonist has a fantasy world that she uses as an escape from the harshness of reality. The drama links in through the storyline, due to the domestic abuse/psychological references.

I conducted secondary research on the main genre by looking at true films such as 'The Blind Side’, 'Titanic', and 'The Lovely Bones'. I analysed film posters to get a better understanding of what my poster should convey, e.g. images/ typography. Creating a mood board of the film posters/ DVD covers helped me to compare/ contrast the colours/ layouts/ typography used. (images below). I also used: http://www.imdb.com/list/2xHGLzvIkzA/ and http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ to study the types of non-fiction films to get a better understanding of story lines and to see how audiences rated certain films e.g. The Lovely Bones.  

Titanic DVD Cover analysis 

The Lovely Bones DVD Cover analysis

The Blind Side DVD Cover analysis 

The Blind Side Poster analysis 

The Lovely Bones poster analysis 

Titanic Poster analysis

Mood Board

Researching my sub-genre on http://media.edusites.co.uk  helped me understand the codes and conventions, shown opposite. I also looked at types of fantasy-drama T.V. Series to help me construct my characters e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

Researching my sub-genre on http://media.edusites.co.uk helped me understand the codes and conventions, shown opposite. I also looked at types of fantasy-drama T.V. Series to help me construct my characters e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

For script assistance I studied different types of scripts (websites below) and used Google to look at different types of script layouts. Relating back to my practice task also gave me inspiration.

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/newtalent/writing/bbctapedsitcom.pdf 
• http://web.mnstate.edu/johnsdan/dtv/ScriptLayout/ScriptLayout.html
•  http://www.filmscriptwriting.com/samplescripts.html
•   http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_8702988_handle-flashback-screenplay.html
• http://www.imsdb.com/

Script Links

Previously Unposted
For help writing my script I searched all over the Internet to find bits of information that would help me to make my script the best possible grade on my script.

I found some website links that gave me different information about scripts.
http://www.sellascript.com/Source/column.cfm?mode=display&columnid=5
http://thescriptlab.com/images/SampleScript/FeatureScreenplayFormat.pdf
http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_format.html

All of the links above do work if you click on them :)


The first one gives hints and tips on how to start a script.
The second link is a sample script template to show the best layout of a script and how long it should be,
The last link gives the dimensions of the margins and the other important punctuation etc. that needs to be added, to give your script the professional look.

This link below is the original script for the film 'The Blind Side'. This one is the most important to me whilst creating my coursework because I chose this film as one of my comparison examples.

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Blind-Side,-The.html


The IMSDB is a very well known website within the film industry as it holds a range of samples from film franchises such as Harry Potter etc. It also has sample scripts from Television shows such as Futurama .