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Focus on Film

In this session well discuss how to be in control of your


production.
Assessment Criteria
Production Design Plan
Production Exercises

Design Plans Online

http://www.atomvic.org/seasonofexcellence/
Resources > Season of Excellence.

Scope of Task

Video of 3-10 minutes.


Animation up to 10 minutes.

Brainstorming

Think about what youll see today.


Think about whats possible and whats not possible.
Talk through your ideas with everyone.

Investigation

Dont have an idea?


Start investigating films that inspire you.
Use Top Screen 2014 as inspiration.

Safety and wellbeing


You have a responsibility to ensure the safety of your actors.
Act responsibly, ethically and according to the law.
Remember, you are representing not only your school but also
the VCAA.

Presentation

Dont waste time decorating your design plan.


We expect that its clear, well-organised

Assessment Criteria
Media production is a process
Each criterion assesses one specific aspect of the process
Use the criteria to help you plan and complete your production at
each stage: preproduction, production, postproduction.

Criterion 1: Production
Exercises

Use of media equipment, applications and/or processes to


present ideas and/or achieve particular effects in a media form.

Production Exercises
Two production exercises.
The production exercises might an exercise in shooting, editing,
recording sound, lighting or colour correcting.
Each exercise will include an intention and evaluation.

Criterion 2
Development and preparation of a media production design plan
in a selected media form for a specified audience.
It needs to be coherent, integrated and feasible.
Imagine someone else picking up your design plan and making
your film. What do they need to know?

Intention and Audience

Intention: What do you hope to achieve?


Audience: Who are you making it for?

Criterion 3

Application and understanding of styles, codes and conventions


appropriate to the selected media form.

Criterion 4

Realisation of an individual or a distinctive media product


appropriate to the intention for the selected audience(s) that
demonstrates appropriate style.

Criterion 5

Skill in the operation of equipment and use of materials and


processes appropriate to the selected media form.

Criterion 6

Management of the production of a media product.

Criterion 7

Realisation of the production design plan in the media product.

Lessons from Top Screen

Narrative Films

In 2014, the Top Screen selection panel was impressed by the


quality and sophistication of storytelling. Even in high scoring films,
there are still a number of areas which need to be addressed.

Narrative Films
The most successful films told clear and engaging stories.

Students increasingly show an awareness that short films are


different to feature films, choosing to tell contained stories with a
small cast of characters.

Narrative Films
In many cases, however, students need to cut the 'shoe leather'
from their screenplays. Shoe leather is a term used by screenwriters
to describe unnecessary journeying. It is not necessary to show
characters travelling from one place to another. Likewise it is not
necessary to show every detail of a character's morning routine.

Narrative Films
When developing their idea, students need to leave out events that
arent relevant to the story.
Narratives begin with a complication. The most successful films
introduced this complication early and demonstrated what it meant
for the lives of their characters.

Narrative Films

Although students are permitted to create films of up to ten minutes,


the most engaging films were usually no longer than six minutes. It
is very difficult to sustain audience engagement for ten minutes.

Narrative Films

Voice overs were often used to explain the narrative. In many


cases, it would be more elegant and engaging to convey this
information visually. The best voice overs moved beyond simple
exposition and conveyed character.

Narrative Films
Students typically demonstrated controlled use of their cameras.
Shooting under fluorescent lights with the incorrect shutter speed
caused problems for some students, creating a flicker that cannot be
removed in post-production.
Camera movement was generally controlled and purposeful, contributing
to narrative and audience engagement. Students used a range of
equipment, including tripods, dollies, sliders, jibs and drones.

Narrative Films
Age appropriate actors. Students are increasingly casting
age appropriate actors. They often involve family and friends
in their films, tailoring their story to the strengths of available
actors. In some cases, actors were directed to use American
accents. This was usually unconvincing and detracted from
the quality of the film.

Narrative Films
Sound. Successful films featured polished soundtracks. The students who created these
films showed an awareness of sound throughout the production process. During
development and pre-production, they selected locations suitable for recording clean
audio. On location, students used a range of microphones to capture audio and, more
importantly, positioned these microphones close to their actors. It was evident that many
students enlisted the help of classmates to take responsibility for sound while they were
behind the camera. In post-production, successful students used a combination of location
audio, foley sounds and sound design elements to create polished soundtracks. Sound is
an area that all students must continue to focus on if they want to increase the production
value of their films.

Narrative Films
Lighting. Lighting makes an important contribution to shot films.
Students are increasingly demonstrating an awareness of how they
can use lighting to tell their stories, using a combination of natural
light, practicals and lamps to light their scenes. Successful lighting
was usually planned in pre-production, the production design plan
featuring lighting diagrams or specific discussion of how lighting
would be used in the film.

Narrative Films
Title sequences. It is encouraging that students have largely
abandoned long credit sequences in their films, opting for a simple
title card instead.
Music. Although students may use copyright music for the purpose
of assessment, many want to enter their work in film festivals or
share it online. For this reason, many use public domain or Creative
Commons music, write the music themselves or obtain tracks from
local bands.

Narrative Films

Student number. Students are not required to


include their student number in the credits of their
production.

Documentaries
The Top Screen selection panel was pleased by the range and
quality of documentaries submitted this year. Like narrative films,
documentaries must have a clear and compelling story. The best
documentaries focused on an interesting subject and told a story
rather than just cutting between talking heads without developing a
story.

Documentaries
Questions on screen. The most successful documentaries
seamlessly combined interviews with b-roll footage. In some cases,
students put questions on the screen between responses, a
technique not utilised by professional documentary filmmakers which
consequently detracts from audience engagement.

Documentaries

B-roll. Polished documentaries made good use of b-roll footage,


cutting away during interviews to well-composed and interesting
shots which contributed to the story. Students are strongly
encouraged to get as much coverage of their subject as they can.

Music Videos
In 2014, there were fewer music videos than previous years.
Effective music videos adopted a consistent aesthetic suited to the
style of music.
It was commendable that so many students created music videos for
local bands or songs they had written.

Music Videos
Less effective music videos involved students miming the lyrics to
popular songs.
When using images to convey a story it is often tempting to fall back
on cliches.
Arielle Swann's Gasp was selected for Top Screen because it
combined striking visuals with original music to create a highly
individual and distinctive product.

Questions

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