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Exemplar for internal assessment resource Media Studies 2.5B for Achievement Standard 91252

Exemplar for Internal Assessment Resource

Media Studies Level 2

Resource title: Batteries not included

This exemplar supports assessment against:

Achievement Standard 91252

Produce a design and plan for a developed media product using a range of conventions

Student and grade boundary specific exemplar

The material has been gathered from student material specific to an A or B assessment resource.

Date version published by Ministry of Education

December 2011 To support internal assessment from 2012

© Crown 2010


The task required students to produce a design and plan for a short film using a blog. As only the final product makes it to the blog, not all process notes have been captured. The teacher checked for reworking and refinement throughout the activity.

1. Grade Boundary: Low Excellence

To achieve this standard at Excellence the student needs to produce a detailed, integrated design and plan for a developed media product using a range of conventions. The design and plan:

contain design choices that meet the requirements of the brief: succinct summary of the purpose: ‘Hitch will be a tale of a hitch-hiking encounter that ends in a violent death. But the death is not the one we expected!’ (extract A); which is further developed in the plot synopsis (extract B) which also contains specific references to conventions. There is further detail in the storyboard: the first seven shots are reproduced on page two of the student work. Other shots identified, but not included in this extract are: dutch tilts, high and low angle shots, over head and over the shoulder shots and point of view shots.

incorporate the key features of the genre into a coherent whole. Theory is integrated with specifics. For example: ‘tight framing to keep the tension high as well and stop audience seeing too much eg in burial scene and end car scene’; ‘hand-held camera through trees to show fear and panic of the person being murdered’.(extract C)

demonstrate evidence of ongoing refinement of ideas through reflection and reworking. For example, re think sound effects: Couldn’t get sound effects- tried but ran out of time’; e work the driving scenes: ‘Talked about car scenes with driver and planned a few ways of making it look real and keeping it safe’ after ‘going for a drive to find the right road and forest for the death scene’; re thought location: ‘ trees are perfect as they will reach over the car and make it claustrophobic like the girl would have been feeling’.

consider the impact of practicalities and outline strategies to overcome potential obstacles. For example: ‘tripping up while running through trees’; ‘spade injuring actor’; ‘take first aid kit’ ; ‘check path carefully for things might fall over’; the realization that we need to ‘do a number of takes ..to make it easy to have a lot of choice..’ and ‘need to check some of the shots on the day on TV so I can go back and redo some shots if necessary’.

identify milestone dates and allocate resources required to complete pre-production activities. Location aspects have been detailed (including location permissions slip explaining the what, where, when to the landowner) as well as lists of props, the crew, the cast, make-up and costume details. Extracts from the production schedule are reproduced in the student work sample.

are effective, appeal to and/or have impact on target audience: ‘It will challenge audience expectations with a twist and give the basic idea that looks can be deceptive. Hitch will frighten the audience a bit and make them feel uncomfortable because of the sleezy situation’’

To meet Excellence more securely the student could: demonstrate fuller evidence and reasons for the reworking and refinement of ideas identify further strategies to overcome potential obstacles.

© Crown 2010

Hitch will be a tale of a hitch-hiking encounter that ends in a violent death. But the death is not the one we expected! It will challenge audience expectations with a twist and give the basic idea that looks can be deceptive. Hitch will frighten the audience a bit and make them feel uncomfortable because of the sleezy situation. It will be shot thriller style with 2 main characters who are stereotypes in this situation. (extract A) An innocent young girl waits on a lonely roadside for a lift. An old blue car passes and pulls over slowly. The girl runs up and gladly jumps in, the driver a rough looking man with tattoos. They drive off, but the girl notices a rifle on the back seat. The man looks her up and down and reaches over behind her to put his arm on the back of the bench seat. She becomes worried. The man sneakily locks her door. The man attacks her and we see the car go out of control from the roadside. We cut to a hand-held point-of-view shot as a person runs through trees, heavy breathing on the soundtrack. We then see a body being buried by someone. We return to the car, driving, looking over the driver’s shoulder from the back seat. The camera slowly moves forward and pans around to show the driver and we realise that it is the girl! (extract B) Lots of close-ups to increase tension….fit with some slow dodgy music to build tension as to what is going to happen. …Tight framing to keep the tension high as well and stop audience seeing too much eg in burial scene and end car scene…..Low angles to show man as sinister and awful…..Hand-held camera through trees to show fear and panic of the person being murdered. .. sound effects exaggerated to increase fear eg: heavy breathing, scrape of hand on seat….Old car with bench seat- to show dodgy man….Rough clothes and hood for man- dodgy, help to conceal his identity at end…. All the props like the car, gun, clothes and tattoo (makeup) and the fact that I will get the actor to not shave for a few days to make him perfect as a sleezy driver…..Innocent dress for girl- show innocence but it is not how she is!...Fast editing when car is going all over road to show violence….. slow some shots down like the shot of the car going down the tree-lined street….try a slower shutter speed for the running footage… (extract C) Extract from production Schedule: HITCH date time action personnel location equipment props contingency

9.7

class test shots- J will bring car to school

Me S J

school camera tripod reflector

car costumes suitcase

12.7 10am Shoot entire film

Me S J H

Harris Rd and Kells Rd bush

Camera, tripod, reflector first aid kit cellphone

gun, car spade costumes suitcase

shoot on 13.7 if weather no good- or 26.7

14.7 16.7

class Log, review footage Production meeting 16.7

Me S

class camera. TV

other classes

16.7 17.7

class capture footage

Me class iMac camera

lunchtime

26.7 10am (2nd shoot date) or pick-ups

Me S J H

Harris Rd and Kells Rd bush

Camera, tripod, reflector first aid kit cellphone

gun, car spade costumes suitcase

21.7- 7.8

class edit film Post production meeting

Me class iMovie Camera if need to add shots

lunchtimes and study if necessary

Student 1 page 1: Low Excellence

First seven (of twenty-eight) shots from storyboard: Hitch

Student 1 page 2: Low Excellence


© Crown 2010

2. Grade Boundary: High Merit

To achieve this standard at Merit the student needs to produce a detailed design and plan for a developed media product using a range of conventions.

The design and plan:

contain design choices that meet the requirements of a given brief. A storyline is identified with references to the main character and the situation (extract A). Further details are developed in a later blog, where there is reference to how the story will contain a climax where a flashback shows the character’s breaking point: ‘a flashback digs deeper into what first aggravated her ‘(extract B). Survey results (extract C) provided the rationale for the storyline

incorporate a range of key features (lighting, costume, soundtrack, character and pace of the medium/genre). Links are made to both audience appeal and to practicalities:

the discussion of lighting as a convention incorporates both theory and specifics for the student’s own product: ‘lighting is a connection to the genre of a thriller as the darkened view on everything relates to the storyline and lighting can reflect the idea of time and will show the progression through events. The lighting will be fairly conventional for a school setting; we are able to dim and brighten the light streaming into rooms by using curtains and artificial lighting. As the film is set within school hours, the idea of day/night is not applicable’ (extract D)

specific music details are given which link music and pace, leading toward a ‘coherent whole’ as required for Excellence: ‘a loud base will slow rhythm that drums into your head to create the intense fearful mood. It will also incorporate music currently on the top 10 American billboard towards the introduction ‘(extract E)

identify milestone dates and allocate required resources to complete pre-production activities. A detailed schedule provides relevant timelines and information regarding locations, equipment and personnel required (extract G)

consider the impact of practicalities on the production process.(Some points are incorporated into earlier blogs). There is an awareness of potential problems and other aspects are discussed in the ‘alternative actions’ section: ‘on any given day, the plan cannot be kept; the nearest day’s plan which could be done will switch around with it … introduce a new scene or event’ (extract G)

demonstrate evidence of refinement of ideas through reflection and reworking, seen throughout earlier blog entries. For example, The title of “Provoked Pundit” is yet to be confirmed

appeal to and/or have some impact on target audience. References are made throughout the blog.

To meet Excellence the student could:

provide further demonstration of ongoing reworking and refining of the original ideas

provide more specific details for some key features, for example, pace (extract F)

An old-fashioned, conventional, teacher acted out by a female. Under a mountain of emotional stress; she is just about at breaking point. Taking out her frustrations on her students and fellow colleagues, her behaviour is becoming increasingly more dangerous. The genre of this short film entitled “Provoked Pundit”, is a teen thriller. This is because our target audience of people ages 13- 19 can relate to the misguided feelings that stress can bring. The thriller element of the film is incorporated by the events throughout the film. For example, the small acts of violence leading to the climax filled with suspense. The results of my survey reiterated the face that a component of humour is essential to incorporate. A storyline that can keep the audience interested would be based on emotion; while still having an upbeat intensity (extract A). It all starts of in a classroom, Alison is teaching in what seems a ‘normal’’ atmosphere, tension is added, and soon she begins to feel less in control of the environment round her. She lashes out in minimal yet odd ways. For instance throwing pens and other objects at students…, These actions lead to the climax-a suspected gunman is in the school forcing a lockdown for all classrooms. Unknown to the kids at the time of locking themselves in the room; the gunman is Alison. Her bag was reported to the office as it was seen to have a mysterious gun shaped object on the surface of her things. Mr McKenzie, a quiet and relatively unknown teacher is the detector of the weapon. Feeling no choice but to report it to senior staff, he takes the information a little too late ……climax is revealed after incidents that can only be described as psychotic and irrational…..With lives at stake, what drove Alison to get to this point? A flashback digs deeper into what first aggravated her…(extract B) SURVEY RESULTS June 29 Thank you to everyone who completed my survey. It showed that a thriller with an element of humour would be the way to go. With good music to accompany the film; the target audience of teenagers will remain interested. (extract C) Contrast of lighting. Film starts off with a relatively well lit setting in order to show that there is a basic equilibrium in the beginning. As the plot progresses, the lighting dims to present a negative vibe to the audience. Lighting is a connection to the genre of a thriller as the darkened view on everything relates to the storyline. This appeals to teenagers in the way that a fast paced movie keeps interest and lighting can reflect the idea of time and will show the progression through events. The lighting will be fairly conventional for a school setting; we are able to dim and brighten the light streaming into rooms by using curtains and artificial lighting. As the film is set within school hours, the idea of day/night is not applicable (extract D) Gripping soundtrack. In the case of a thriller, music increases the speed of the plot. The accompanying music adds emotion to a scene and this element changes the environment from a moderately tedious moment to an event full of suspense. Music can contribute to mood and pace……….; This is useful when targeting teenagers as it gives a modern twist…….. My short film will have the well-known suspense music to teenagers a loud base will slow rhythm that drums into your head to create the intense fearful mood. It will also incorporate music currently on the top io American billboard towards the introduction; this will acknowledge the teenage demographic and will contrast to the events later to come (extract E) Fast pace. Use of montage and cuts through scenes will move the plot through quicker, this will be a significant feature of the film as there are many aspects of the plot that need to be moved through in the space of approximately six minutes. The pace links to the genre of a thriller because a slow thriller does not leave an impression on teenagers compared to what a penetrating speed would do. This is relevant when targeting teenagers as the audience because people in that age range tend to get bored reasonably easily. In my film events will be edited together or blended into the same scene (done after filming is completed).(extract F)

Student 2 page 1: High Merit

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE AUG 3 Day One: Arrange for drama class to be available for filming when needed. Also collect costumes from drama department and organize main characters for filming for the next two weeks. Day Two: Film scenes which require no actors e.g. Opening credits and closing credits. Search for accompanying music for the editing process to gain more information on the atmosphere our short film will create. This day will also be useful for deciding more specific ideas about where the actors will be situated; best angles because of sunlight. (Things that had not been taken into account when choosing the locations of scenes.) ….. Day Ten: Download all footage onto the computer allocated to us. This will take a very long time with so much footage so we will need to allow time before and after class for this to keep going. Day Eleven: Cut any full scenes that cannot be used. Be more specific about what worked best and delete any footage that isn’t necessary for the film as we have to make the most of the (approx) seven minutes! Day Twelve: Put the best scenes into the timeline and begin the infuriating task of editing this film. Day Thirteen and Fourteen: Continue cutting scenes so that the only footage in the timeline is quality material. Day Fifteen: Add in appropriate fades and cuts to sharpen up the end result. Also cut dialogue that isn’t useful and delete sound on clips that interferes with the style of the film. Day Sixteen: Just keep cutting ... And cutting... And editing... Day Sixteen and Seventeen: Continue editing as done on Day Fifteen. …. Day Twenty: Oh man I hope this is all saved. Make every little adjustment that irritates the eye and ear. Add opening and closing credits. Make it look all professional! Locations needed are: - G8 (classroom) as this is the only not booked classroom at the same time as when I have media studies. - The staffroom and office area, for the scene where the gun is found and reported to senior management. - Kiosk quad area and field, for transition scenes and montage pieces. Equipment - Digital camera - Tripod - Computer - Costumes - Props Crew - student names (2) -Drama class - teacher name -assistance will be needed - Selected people from the l2Media Studies class will be confirmed. Changes will be readily made and updated on the blog as there will be more than likely obstacles stopping us from filming under particular circumstances . The actors/actresses are to be confirmed as we have not decided on someone who would suit the role off the top of our head. The role of Alison will take up a lot of …. Alternative Actions. Okay, so this is planned for a total of twenty days, which I thought seemed like a good number. This covers about 6 weeks. Here’s the deal, if on any given day, the plan cannot be kept; the nearest day’s plan which could be done will switch around with it. For example, if on day six we cannot get the actors or the setting needed for filming, we will list the changes made so far. The other things we can do is take shots of the surroundings (like a long shot zooming in on a classroom to introduce a new scene or event (extract G)

Student 2 page 2: High Merit


3. Grade Boundary: Low Merit

The design and plan:

contain design choices that meet the requirements of a given brief. A storyline is established, which will be presented as a mockumentary: ‘It will be a Mockumentary based on a reporter’s story of three students from Sunshine College in the lead up to their NCEA level 2 exams’ (Later blogs define the aim more succinctly: ‘the pressure put on our … and how the three main characters deal with it … as they await their results‘) (extract A).

incorporate a range of key features of the medium/genre. Conventions are detailed,

showing understanding of the theory and application of lighting, interviews, costume, voice-over, montage, exposition, music and camera shots. For example:

the features of a mockumentary are clearly understood: ‘fictitious events are displayed in a documentary format ‘and this is translated into specifics: ‘Our Mockumentry will show ‘raw footage’ as well as interviews’ (extract B)

the purpose of holding interviews is clear: ‘it will establish our characters well and present our short film as one that is similar to a documentary ‘(extract C)

use of exposition (extract D) and voice-over (extract H) is clear: ‘just the voice over of the reporter introducing it. I am not sure yet which will be the best and easiest way to do it ; it will just be the voice from the reporter (behind the camera) while the character will be the centre of attention on the camera’

montage and editing (extract E) are exemplified: ‘compacting the three hours into about 10 or 20 seconds, and but we will speed it up and so that one school day at Sunshine College will be shown in a few seconds’

the use of the shaky hand held camera (extract F) is relevant: ‘raw’ footage that is presenting reality and this could create an element of excitement for our audience

use of costume is specified: to portray their different personalities and so the audience can easily tell what type of character they are portraying extract G)

identify milestone dates and allocate required resources to complete pre-production activities, consider the impact of practicalities on the production process, and evidence of refinement of ideas through reflection and reworking are demonstrated in production schedule, notes and earlier blog entries (not able to be exemplified here). Some references to the use of editing: ‘will be easier to speed it up in the editing process and filmed at different parts of the day so that one school day at Sunshine College will be shown in a few seconds’ (extract E); We will have to see what will work best and I am not sure yet which will be the best and easiest way to do it (extract D)

appeal to and/or have some impact on target audience by referring to reasons for

planning throughout the blog.The storyline is relevant to the target audience and reflects their interests: ‘girls who preferred watching 7 to 8 minutes … more than one story line, more than one main character ; our survey showed [that] was what the audience liked ; excitement for our audience’ .

© Crown 2010


To meet Merit more securely the student could:

demonstrate further evidence of refinement of ideas through providing reasons for changes made to both storyline and treatment

consider more fully the impact of practicalities on the production process.

© Crown 2010

My survey threw out some really good results which I am planning to use in my short film, here they are: The surveyed were all girls who preferred watching 7 to 8 minute, happy, comedy films with more than one story line, more than one main character, female protagonists that are either teen or adult with Pop or Dance pop through parts of a fllm. With this information I am able to develop my concept to suit my audience. ……….I will be creating a short film from the comedy genre, aimed at a teenage audience. It will be a Mockumentary based on a reporter’s story of three students from Sunshine College in the lead up to their NCEA level 2 exams. There will be three main characters, which in turn will have three semi-separate story lines. These characters are Makena, Kylie, and Nikita. Makena is a really good dancer ……wants to become a professional dancer … she gets stage fright. Kylie is your typical ‘ditzy blonde’ character who wants study medicine … not exactly the sharpest chip off the block ….. enough trouble balancing a social life and a mysterious boyfriend… Nikita is your stereotypical ‘stoner’ character who does not care about passing .. interested in smokes and parties.This film will portray the pressure put on our generation at such a young age and how the three main characters deal with it, the positive and negative ways. The reporter will visit the girls before, in the lead up to the exams and after as they await their results. (extract A)

Mockumentary is basically a mock documentary, when fictitious events are displayed in a documentary format in a film. Our Mockumentry will show ‘raw footage’ as well as interviews with the characters and those playing a role in their lives. Our Mockumentary will be a light hearted short film posing as a documentary with a reporter and three main characters whose stories intertwine with the event of the exams. Because our short film will be a happy and comedic we will be using bright lighting to create a light atmosphere however when things go wrong for the three protagonists we will used dimmer lighting to create a sense of despair. This will appeal to the target audience as the conventions used such as lighting are used so that there is as much emphasis on the characters actions and emotions, which our survey showed was what the audience liked. (extract B)

A main convention specific to the genre of documentaries/mockumentaries is the interview. An Interview involves one person asking another person questions to exchange information and give opinions. Documentary makers use interviews because an interview gives dialogue directly about specific events, therefore giving the audience clear background information and deepening their understanding of the character through their responses to the questions asked . We have decided to use this film technique as we think it will establish our characters well and present our short film as one that is similar to a documentary. Most of the interviews in our film will be with our three main characters Kylie, Makena and Nikita . These interviews will be centred on the event of the 2011 NCEA Level 2 exams. Questions will be asked about the lead up to the exams, their future aspirations, how they think they’ll go and how they actually went after they have received their results. The reporter….will want to have interviews with the teachers at school about the three main characters lives to get basic information about them and what they want to do. their hopes and aspirations and also about exams to get a different point of view. I don’t know whether we will use real teachers or students pretending to be teachers yet. We will have to see what will work best (extract C)

Student 3 page 1: Low Merit

We will also be using exposition, a film technique relative to the documentary genre. An exposition can be presented in many ways such as dialogue and voice over. Its purpose is to give background information that informs the audience on the plot, a character, a setting or a theme in the film. Expositions are commonly used to introduce a news item on the six o’clock news on channels one and three. We will be introducing our short film through an exposition; the exposition will display the idea that our film is a short documentary/news item highlighting the NCEA level 2 exams. The exposition will either be a scene in which a news reporter introduces the next news item or just the voice over of the reporter introducing it. – I am not sure yet which will be the best and easiest way to do it (extract D).

In our mockumentary we will use the technique of montage when Kylie is in the exam room which is three hours long and we will be compacting the three hours into about 10 or 20 seconds which will show her struggling in the Science exam. Another film technique is time lapse usually of the sky and the clouds have been sped up over time- Also in programmes sometimes they show a big city with all the cars that are stopped then are moving from traffic lights and it at night and they are also sped up. We will use this in our mockumentary when the students are moving from class to class and are out on the school grounds they will be walking but it will be easier to speed it up in the editing process to make all the students look faster. The camera will show the students before school, during periods, and after school to walking through the quad by the kiosk. This will be filmed at different parts of the day so that one school day at Sunshine College will be shown in a few seconds.(extract E)

A flIm technique often seen in a mockumentary/documentary is the shaky hand-held camera. This is when the camera operator is holding the camera without supporting it on a surface. This technique produces some what shaky footage that represents itself as ‘raw’ footage that is presenting reality as it appears somewhat unprepared and unprofessional. The technique is also used when an exciting or action-filled event is taking place. In our film, this could create an element of excitement for our audience as Kylie runs away and the shaky camera follows her after she receives a text from her boyfriend telling her they are breaking up before an exam. We will be using either a tripod or a steady cam to create this effect so that there is the element of shakiness but it isn’t to overpowering in the final product. (extract F)

For each character the costume is different to portray their different personalities and so the audience can easily tell what type of character they are portraying. For Kylie the purpose of the style of her costume is to show that she is a popular character …... Makena is a goody good in a way and gets nervous when she has a lot of pressure on her ….. Nikita is a classic stoner and this costume of black will clearly show that. …..The costume for the reporter/interviewer is going to be business in a jacket and skirt- classic business women style. For the character of Kylie ..school uniform but wom in a slutty way…… For Makena she will wear immaculate school uniform because she is the model student … Nikita….a classic stoner with black hoodie, heaps of black eye makeup and will have cigarette occasionally…(extract G)

In a documentary there is almost always a voice over in some sort of form. The purpose of a voice over is to provide the audience with some information while the audience is viewing something else on the screen. The voice over is usually spoken by the filmmaker or reporter and sometimes the voice over is when the person is being interviewed and the audience can only see the person being interviewed. For our voice over it will be the reporter asking the characters and their teachers questions when they are being interviewed but you will not see the reporter it will just be the voice from the reporter (behind the camera) while the character will be the centre of attention on the camera(extract H).

Student 3 page 2: Low Merit


© Crown 2010

4 Grade Boundary: High Achieved

To achieve this standard at Achievement the student needs to produce a design and plan for a developed media product using a range of conventions. The design and plan:

contain design choices that meet the requirements of the brief. The plan for the horror story incorporates a range of key features appropriate for this genre.(extract A). Details are provided for lighting, music, setting, shots, atmosphere and chase scenes. The blog provides details of the development of horror and suspense throughout the short film. For example:

flashbacks are used (extracts B and C) to aid the narrative

lighting is appropriate for the mood: ‘lighting is dark, shadowy shots and we will use sunlight to set a happy mood’ (extract D)

chase scenes are relevant: ‘our chase scene will consist of all of these typical elements’ (extract E)

setting conventions are described: ‘normal safe environment to a somewhat secluded and isolated setting’ (extract F)

music to create suspense is understood:’ it changes the mood of a scene; slow to cause suspense during …’ (extract G)

identify milestone dates and resources required to complete pre-production activities in blog (not able to be re-produced here). Demonstration of evidence of reflection and reworking of ideas in teacher-checked blogs (only final blog available for publication here). Some identification of practicalities in earlier blogs

have appeal to target audience: references are made to the results of the survey

as the basis for the film’s focus . Frequent references to reason and impact on audience.

To meet Merit the student could:

address more fully the practicalities and their impact on the production. For example: ‘on the next full moon ; lighting is dark, shadowy shots ‘

demonstrate ‘refinement of ideas through reflection and reworking’ by retaining

and commenting more fully on reasons for changes provide more details of the actual and specific use of the conventions: evidence

is often quite generic.

Because our targeted audience is teenagers, they tend to have a short attention span so the tone of our film will need to be creepy but gripping. We intend to scare the audience by having unexpected frights, things jumping out and loud noises. This will keep them on edge so they maintain interest in the film…… 27 june…

Our short Film is going to be a Horror and is planned to be about 8-10 minutes in Length. Our story will begin with our main character (yet to be named) fast asleep in bed. She is having a dream about a creepy lady coming at her through the darkness. The Lady is calling out her daughter’s name. Our lead girl awakes in horror in a pool of sweat bewildered by her nightmare. At school that day she over hears her friends talking about a legend that haunts there town. The legend says that in 1796 a young girl went missing in a local forest the night of a full moon. Her mother spent years searching for her until she eventually drove herself insane. She was deemed dangerously psychotic and was sedated. It is said that every full moon she can still be seen searching the forest for her lost daughter. The group of young teenagers decide to venture to the forest in the hope of seeing the psychotic women. They take it as a joke and it is made obvious that they have no idea what they are getting themselves into. (extract A)

The kids plan to go to the forest on the next full moon, which coincidentally is that coming Saturday. They drive to the forest late Saturday afternoon. Some of the kids are hesitant and feel like they shouldn’t be there but even in doubt they still proceed. As night falls the main girl begins to hear noises and sees shadows. As the night goes on she strays from the group to go to the toilet. While she is away she hears screams coming from her friends. She quickly makes her way through the forest and watches in horror through the trees as her friends get slaughtered. As she watches on helplessly she catches eyes with the killer and she realizes in a series of flash backs that this is the same women who haunted her dreams. She turns to run but doesn’t get far before she is grabbed from behind and blacks out 4th july (extract B)

She awakes alone in the killer’s house, tucked up in her daughter’s bed. She is dressed in her clothes and is surrounded by her toys. She hesitantly gets out of bed and makes her way into the hall way. As she creeps down the passage way she notices a door slightly open. She slowly pushes the door open but is horrified to reveal her dead friends in a pile on the floor. She gags and falls in a crying heap in the hall way. As she weeps in the shadows, she notices a picture on the wall. Our main girl is curious so she decides to take a closer look. The picture is of a lady and a little girl smiling happily together. But the young girl in the picture is a spitting image of our main character. A series of flash backs occur and our main character quickly realizes why she has been kept alive. The lady killer believes that she is her long lost daughter. Our main character sprints for the door in one last attempt to get away, but is stopped in her tracks as the lady killer steps out in front of her just before she can exit The screen will black out with a scream.(extract C)

Student 4 page 1: High Achieved

The atmosphere of our short film will change throughout the film. It will be a dark and moody horror, but it also needs to be gripping and exciting. The lighting will vary to suite the mood that is trying to be prevailed through the scene. For example it will be low key and shadowy during scenes that are aimed to be frightening or suspenseful and bright and open when scenes are aimed to set a safe mood. It is important that we have these lighting changes because they will go hand in hand with the storyline……… Lighting will be a key convention in our short film. It will be used to develop our storyline and support our Genre. Our chosen genre is horror. Lighting is dark, shadowy shots We will use lighting to work alongside the storyline so that we set a strong mood for a particular scene. Other times we will use sunlight to set a happy mood and will allow the audience to feel like the situation is safe. Other times we want the audience to quickly switch moods causing them to feel somewhat vulnerable and scared. Having the audience switch moods so suddenly will give a bigger emotional impact This emotional impact and mood change will allow the audience to feel more involved with the film. I think that feeling more involved will allow the film to appeal more to our audience (extract D).

Chase scenes are a horror convention that is commonly used for this specific genre. It is usually a convention that is used in the climax of the film when the killer confronts the main character. It is used commonly during the climax because a chase scene is very fast paced and epic. The excitement of a chase scene combined with the fear that it up holds creates a strong, tense mood. This is perfectly suited to a horror film. The environment of a chase scene in a horror film is generally dark or shadowy with many obstacles in the path of the chase. The path is also windy with many sharp corners. Our chase scene will consist of all of these typical elements. The chase scene will be gripping and our idea is to make it so epic that the audience will feel like they are right there in the scene (extract E) The typical setting for a horror movie is usually a changing setting. Generally the main character/s start of living reasonably normal lives in a suburban area. But as the film progresses the setting changes from a normal safe environment to a somewhat secluded and isolated setting. This setting change usually goes hand in hand with the storyline so as the narrative develops, the setting changes. This makes a film more interesting and it can also cause the audience to stay more in tuned with what is going on in the film. This results in the audience having more interest in the narrative of the film because the setting is a visual change and the two go hand in hand (extract F).

Music in the horror film genre is typically spooky and aerie. It is generally quite slow but in fight scenes or chase scenes it becomes more upbeat and fast paced. This lifts the tempo of the scene. A music change makes a film more interesting because it changes the mood of a scene . What the audience is feeling during a scene can be completely dictated by scary music because it can cause heavy emotions. Our film will have music that is typical to the horror genre. It will be aerie and slow to cause suspense during scenes when something scary is about to happen. This will cause the audience to feel vulnerable and afraid. But when there are chase scenes or fights the music will be fast paced making things seem frantic causing the audience to feel absorbed by the scene. This mood change will cause the audience to feel interested and more involved in the film (extract G).

Student 4 page 2: High Achieved


5 Grade Boundary: Low Achieved

The work from two different students has been presented here. The design and plan:

contain design choices that meet the requirements of a given brief (concept one ). The plan contains a clear discussion of the storyline with sufficient details about the plot, purpose, characters, target audience etc. Concept two still requires work: there is no clear sense of purpose or effect on target audience

incorporate a range of key features. Just sufficient details of the range of key features of

the chosen genre have been included (concept two)

colour is appropriately linked to character: ‘light/natural colours in the scenes were the good Christians; where it is just Jezebel or her family we will have a dark daunting light’

lighting is used appropriately as a focusing device: ‘we need the audience to be focusing on the right things and the right time so lighting is a good way to create focus’

characters are, as stated, stereotypes and they are dressed in line with the intended effect: ‘Jezebel. She will be dressed in black- promiscuous … ‘contrasted with ‘other people in her class wear light, white colours’

music and camera shots show just sufficient use of these features for the purpose: ‘preferred films that had popular new music in it. This is why we’re puffing in this music, because people like it and it fits in with our idea and long shots are used to show the characters and the setting. It doesn’t show emotion or detail though so we will need to use close-ups for that.’

identify practicalities that may affect the production process: blogs identified some

practicalities that developed statements such as: ‘this should not be too difficult as we have only two locations, the classroom and then the river. We will be able to film at both places at the times on our list ‘

identify milestone dates and resources required to complete pre-production activities.

These are sufficiently developed on student process schedule (not able to be reproduced here)

demonstrate evidence of reflection and reworking of ideas: both concept one and

concept two demonstrated sufficient evidence in earlier blog entries. Some examples in treatment: ‘so we will need to make sure that we change and have different shots after each other when we edit ‘

have some appeal to target audience: both concepts make sufficient reference to target

audience throughout the blogs. For example: ‘appeal to a teenage audience as it has some real life events that teenagers should somewhat be able to relate to; the audience will subconsciously feel this as a bit scary and … audience feels uncomfortable almost; we know our target audience gets bored quickly and we want them to feel involved in the film.’

© Crown 2010


To meet Achievement more securely the student could:

develop the concept (particularly concept two) to provide further details regarding purpose etc

provide further evidence of reworking and the impact of practicalities.

© Crown 2010

CONCEPT ONE: Genre for film: Mystery/Fantasy My results showed that the majority of people who completed the survey stated that their favourite genre was comedy but they also liked mystery/fantasy stories about dreams so we decided to do that ….. SUMMARY: Maya has a special gift where she dreams events that are from the future The events can occur as soon as she wakes up or up to almost a week. She has to figure out what her gift means and how she can control it PLOT: Night before Maya’s 16th birthday she dreams of what her cake looks like and it ends up being exactly the same the next day- She passes it off as just excitement and thinks she may have accidently seen the cake without realizing She doesn’t believe it means anything until it happens again: this time something more serious She goes to school on Monday and hears her friend’s cousin died in a drink driving accident the weekend before She then remembers the dream she had that weekend was of a drunken guy getting in to a car She tells another friend about what happened who suggests she see a psychic She books an appointment for that week to see the local and surprisingly only psychic in town Prior to the appointment she has a daydream of her walking into a room where a family friend is under a fallen bookcase. with signs of injury She freaks out and wakes herself up Immediately she turns on radio she hears news about an earthquake happening in the friend’s city. She goes into a panic. rushes into the kitchen to find her mum crying on the phone She knows exactly what has happened and decides to call Dawn. the psychic to change appointments Psychic is worried and agrees to see her that day At the meeting psychic tells her she must have the same gift that psychic also grew up with. Psychic decides to have regular meetings to train her mind to control the dreams, so that she can help out the person in danger A montage will show the weekly arrangements and developments of Maya’s mini It will also show Maya during her dreams and how she learns that the gift she has is to prevent the events from happening in real life The film ends with Maya letting her friend who is still upset over the death of her cousin, know that nothing like that will happen again from now on she just has to figure out who it is that needs the help and how. This film should appeal to a teenage audience as it has some real life events that teenagers should somewhat be able to relate to.

CONCEPT TWO: The concept of my film is going to be based on a girl who goes to a religious school but doesn’t believe in god. She worships Judas. She is getting told off by her teacher because she wasn’t participating in the class room activities that were happening in her “religous education” class. She then gives the teacher and the class a piece of her mind and breaks into song and dance. The good students of the class and the teacher are telling her that she’s wrong and that she shouldn’t be like this, she’s going to Hell etc. At the beginning of the film we will see a group of girls driving to the river listening to church music, They’re happy and laughing. There will be shots of them going to the river, jumping down the rocks and then of them holding hands and preying. the girl, Jezabel was usually quiet and minded her own business, until she got fed up with all these “perfect little girls and boys” who were always clean and tidy, always did their homework and were home in time for family dinner and they went to church every Sunday. We chose the name “Jezabel” because it means “Not exalted” this means that the girl in our story doesn’t have a high status or doesn’t stand out. When Jezabel finally lets out her thoughts about not believing in God her class listen and dance with her. The final scene is everyone leaving the class room, the original “good girls and boys” have let their hair down and relaxed. they dance out of the class to the song “Judas” (by Lady Gaga)

Student 5 page 1: Low Achieved

COLOUR We will use light/natural colours in the scenes were the good Christians are in. Like the classroom scenes or the ones where they’re at the river. The scenes where it is just Jezebel or her family we will have a dark daunting light. The audience will subconsciously feel this as a bit scary. We intend to create a rebellious, scary atmosphere when we’re filming Jezebel. So the audience feels uncomfortable almost. LIGHTING We will be using natural lighting in our film. For the class rooms we will have normal lighting. But we will try making it brighter than a usual classroom. We will try drawing attention to Jezebel as she is the main character. We will make her brighter than anyone else on the set. This will show the audience where the focus is. We need the audience to be focusing on the right things and the right time so lighting is a good way to create focus

STEREOTYPICAL CHARACTERS All our characters are quite similar, except for one, Jezebel. She will be dressed in black- promiscuous clothing. She is referred to as Slutty. She isn’t popular amongst the girls in her class but she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She doesn’t like school and doesn’t want to be there, especially at this religious school. The other people in her class wear light, white colours with their hair pulled tightly back. This will show the audience that we have made our characters have strong characteristics so they’re easier to remember and make it easier to know who is who.

MUSIC The start of the film we have the religious girls and boys going down the river to prey. So we will be using a track from Oh brother where art thou?” called gone to the river to prey” this will be playing until the classroom scene where the teacher starts talking/teaching the children about Jesus. When Jezebel gets annoyed at the teacher, judas” by Lady Gaga begins to play. Our survey showed that people between 13 and 17 years old preferred films that had popular new music in it. This is why we’re puffing in this music, because people like it and it fits in with our idea

A SHOT that we’ve been quite keen to use is long shots. When the children are playing in the river, we want to see what they’re doing and where they are. Long shots are used to show the characters and the setting. It doesn’t show emotion or detail though so we will need to use close-ups for that. To keep our audiences attention, we will not have too many long shots because we know our target audience gets bored quickly and we want them to feel involved in the film so we will need to make sure that we change and have different shots after each other when we edit. This should not be too difficult as we have only two locations, the classroom and then the river. We will be able to film at both places at the times on our list

Student 5 page 2: Low Achieved


© Crown 2010

6 Grade Boundary: High Not Achieved

The work from three different students has been presented here. The design and plan:

contain some design choices that could, with development, meet the requirements of the brief. Concept one presents a basic idea which needs a clearer purpose and explanation of the intended effect on the audience. Concept two begins clearly, has some interest, but needs some development: ‘the end result will hopefully allow the audience to have to think outside the square.’ Concept three has a simple but reasonable basic idea, ‘encourage more people to express themselves using hugs’ but does not seem practical, particularly the interviews of: ‘babies, pets, … Gangsters ‘..

. incorporate a range of key features of the genre. The treatment details are for concept

three. Although there is discussion of a range of conventions, the discussion tends to be simplistic with little demonstration of the practicalities involved. For example:

interviews: ‘the people who we will ‘interview’ will be acting as opposed to a genuine interview ‘but it is not clear how ‘babies, pets’ will be ‘interviewed’

dialogue and style: it is not clear how the mix of serious and not serious will work: ‘formal and professional. The reporters will introduce themselves to the viewers then inform them of the public ideas of hugs and the psychology behind them compared with is not a serious film.’

The plans do not sufficiently:

identify practicalities that may affect the production process identify milestone dates and resources required to complete pre-production activities

demonstrate any evidence of reflection and reworking of ideas.

To meet Achievement the students could:

complete the requirements of their plans, as listed above be more specific and provide further details for both the treatment and the concept.

CONCEPT ONE In the short film I have been a part of, our story follows a l6 year old teenager, Ally, who is the model child. She does all and more that her parents ask her. She does chores and homework straight after school and doesn’t have much of a social life after school. She is a push over and is often used by her peers to do their homework or complete their assignments. One night, after she had completed her homework and chores her mother sends her to bed. She secretly sneaks her Pod into her room (she is not allowed electronics after 9pm) and softly listens to her favourite band, The Midnight Beast.

She falls into a deep sleep listening to a specific song. TikTok by Ke$ha, which they parodied. This then caused a dream fuelled by this particular song. She goes through the song’s lyrics following the same music video as whatTMB posted on YouTube. She goes through the motions and see’s what it was like, but instead of the original members of TMB it’s fellow friends performing.

She wakes up abruptly after it ended. She comes out of this dream with a new perspective on life. She turns her mother down on the request to do chores, and instead walks out to hang with her mates. This short film was concepted with survey results that collaborates with everyones needs. Our target audience are teenagers and this short film will have a comedy genre. —1 hour ago Survey Results can be found here! —5 days ago

CONCEPT TWO To start off with the film will fade in. You are shown a man waking up in an everyday apartment. The apartment is neat and tidy, with everything in its rightful place. This gives the audience the impression that the owner suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder (O.C.D). The man goes about a morning routine without hesitation. Rises out of bed, folds over the sheets, heads for a shower, gets dressed (in suit, briefcase shown), sits down to read the morning paper, eats breakfast, etc. Whilst all of this is happening, the narration sets in, which will be along the lines of: ‘My name is , I live at __________________. I am the best known assassin in the world. I study my targets meticulously, taking in every little detail unknown to human eye. I am everywhere. You can run and hide... It just makes the hunt more fun”. Continuing from the narration, whilst it is still going on, the man now walks out too his car, brief case in hand. He arrives at his work, and as he is getting out of the car, glances up at the tall building towering above. Suddenly, a gunshot. The man falls over with a bullet embedded into the back his head. The camera then shifts off and focuses to a location in the far distance; a man dressed in full black holding a sniper is seen. The narrations then states, And that is why I am the best”. This above concept is unfinished, but gives a basic outline to what my short film will be based around. I am in the middle of thinking how to introduce a love interest; and am thinking of dragging out the portion of the film from when the man leaves his apartment to when he arrives at his work. The end result will hopefully allow the audience to have to think outside the square and read into the storyline deeper than what’s shown. Also, throughout the film I am aiming to add suspense. At this present time, I am unsure of how to produce this, but I feel added suspense would increase the impact of the twist ending.

Student 6 page 1: High Not Achieved

CONCEPT THREE The concept of our film is going to be a mockumentary based on the simple everyday action of a hug. We will be interviewing a variety of people about their opinions and habits of giving and receiving the common hug. At the beginning, someone will be watching a hugging scene from a romantic movie. The reporters will walk in and very professionally start to inform the audience about how psychologically important hugging is. The responses of the public will be varied as we will be asking: Babies, pets, college kids, adults, the elderly and gangsters about their personal views on hugs. The following songs will be played at certain points through out the film: The hug song’ “Hug a pug”, “I need a hug”-by The schnozberries The aim of the mockumentary is to encourage more people to express themselves using hugs. Have YOU hugged a loved one today? TREATMENT (Concept three): The conventions for our medic genre of mokumentary are: interviews, costume, dialogue, end camera angles. These conventions ore appropriate for our genre end will appeal to our wide spectrum of target audiences. Interviews: As we are creating a mockumentary, the people who we will “interview’ will be acting as opposed to a genuine interview. The responses of the people being interviewed will be acting in a stereotypical way, for example, an old lady will be careful of what she says, will use old fashioned language and her response will be full of wisdom and experience. There will be a wide variation of people that we will be interviewing so we should recieve a variety of responses from many generations. We plan to hold extensive interviews with kids, pets, students, adults, gangsters and elderly people. Costume: The costumes for the reporters will be formal end tidy. The people being interviewed will wear costumes according to their stereotypical look, such as: a grey beard end baggy clothing for the elderly people, conventional and tidy clothing for the adults, oversized basketball tops, bling and track pants for the gangsters. Music: We will be using several fun end hoppy songs that relate to the ‘hug’ them such Os, ‘i need a hug’ and ‘The hug song’. These songs are catchy and have a good beat which is appropriate for our mockumentory as it adds to the fact that it is not a serious film. Dialogue: Although it is a mockumentary we will moke sure that the dialogue for the reporters is formal and professional. The reporters will introduce themselves to the viewers then inform them of the public ideas of hugs and the psychology behind them. Angles: There will be a variety of camera angles throughout the film so as not to bore the viewers. Mid-shots when filming the interviews end the reporters. Close-ups, high-angles and low angles also for some interviews- depending on the characters being interviewed. For example, when interviewing a pet, the angle might be high to show the reality of the situation (that the animal is much smaller thon the camera operator.) Style: Because it is a mockumentary, the atmosphere will be light but informative at the some time. The interviews will be done in the characters typical environment, for example,a group of gangsters might be interviewed outside the mall or on the back field. This will help the audience to quickly understand the concept and to relate to the stereotype more easily. I think our mockumentary will be entertaining for all types of viewers as it is based on a concept that is familiar to us aIl- hugs.

Student 6 page 2: High Not Achieved

internal assessment resource€¦ · activities. location aspects have been detailed (including...

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