Statement of Intent: January feedback and LR

Mark: 10

Grade: A*

Comments on Statement of Intent:

·         This is a stunning Statement of Intent that easily exceeds A Level standards. The level of thought behind the concept is truly outstanding and worthy of the very top of level 5.

·         The only possible issue could be word count – I’ll get a second opinion from Mr Bush. If you did need to cut it, I’d say a couple of the media language bullet points could go or perhaps some of the audience and industry section. One to perhaps look at a final time but this is just brilliant.

LEARNER'S RESPONSE

STATEMENT OF INTENT

Research and Planning

PLAN:

1. COVER LINES: The British Rose - An Interview with an actress smashing stereotypes
2.  Christmas is Coming
3. Under the Sea - Underwater technology and use of natural resources in movies
4. I see a little silhouette - the art of the shadow - interview with shadow artist
5. The New Revolution - Breaking the Binary: gender in 2019 

Which of your main characters will appear on the front cover of your magazine?

• All 4 of my main characters will appear on my front cover

What image or images do you need for the contents page?

• I need on location shots, portrait shots of 3 different drama characters and drawings of key film posters

What image or images will you use for the double-page spread? Remember, you need seven different original images across the print brief.

• A group shot of 4 different protagonists, as well as portrait shots of the women speaking

Write a shot list for the photoshoot. Make sure you plan a variety of camera shots you will look to capture - medium shots, close-ups etc.

- Shot List [DRAWINGS ON PAPER]

What costume, props or make-up will you require for the photoshoot?

- Rose Petals

- Flowers

- Balloons

- Magnifying Glass

- Glasses

-Umbrella
- Christmas Lights

- Natural makeup, Potential References to popular teen movies of the last few decades

Print Tutorial: Learner's Response

Daisy-Leigh

Learner response on Statement of Intent feedback: Posted.

New Statement of Intent draft submitted: Submitted – but not yet marked (sorry!) Although it may be worth adding a section on this print planning and re-submitting (agree word count may be an issue).

Print planning discussion: Absolutely superb – already planned with sketches looking great.

On track to meet deadline: Yes.

Next steps:

·     Identify three things you need to work on in the next 10 days.

- Complete the Research and Planning log task

- Write the analysis for the double spread feature

- Take on location shots for my contents page

·   Date for Statement of Intent submission: Monday 9th December (Negotiating! Need to see if word count will be an issue)

Statement of Intent: Learner's Response

Feedback:

• This is a great concept with some absolutely superb discussion. The vast majority of the writing is in itself top-level but you are stuck on the level below due to the length (overlong) and lack of organisation and clarity.
• Perhaps use bullet points, subheadings or similar to organise your ideas into sections and also cut the word count? It’s just a massive lump of text currently!
• You need a brief summary at the beginning of the basics of your show – title, narrative summary/log line etc. You’ll have done this already on the TV drama pitch document.
• In the statement as a whole, you address the key concepts very impressively – language, representation and audience are all covered in detail. The issue is organisation and word count – could you divide into sections and perhaps use bullet points in places to cut the word count?
• One comment on audience – your initial discussions of audience do not feel like they meet the ‘family audience’ specification of the brief so perhaps look at this. I think you need to make the family element clearer both in terms of how your concept matches the genre and also the family target audience.
• You are missing one element in the statement of intent mark scheme – digital convergence. You need to cut down rather than add but could you add something about using social media to develop some of the issues you discuss?
• Culture magazine planning is excellent but perhaps needs organising into one section? However, it is fine to make references to it in other areas of the statement.

Three Improvements

• Lower the word count- cut out parts that are irrelevant
• Restructure! Add subtitles and bullet point key aspects
• Add a few sentences concerning digital convergence - Youtube, #'s, Spotify

Pre-Production Tasks

Mise-en-scene

• Costume

RIVER: blue, cool toned colours - androgynous style with clear 80s influence

FLEUR: Green/Natural colours, clear 90s supermodel influence, natural but atypical makeup choices

BELLE: Black/Pink colours, soft makeup choices with strong modern clothing choices- stark contrast from androgynous choices and feminine clothing

MONET: yellow, autumnal outfit choices, very artistically influenced style with feminist references throughout, statement pieces and warm coloured makeup

ANTAGONIST: all black, shapeless style that creates strong silhouettes with barely any notable brands.

• Lighting

NATURAL LIGHTING: Filming using natural light where possible to create realism, back lighting for ANTAGONIST scenes to add to the ambiguity of their character

COLOURED LIGHTING: using coloured lights for 'power shots' within the trailer, add to the Channel 4 drama brand and also the postmodern perspective for the show. 

• Props

RIVER: Umbrella, Laptop, Phone

FLEUR: Flowers, Notepad, Phone

BELLE: Lip gloss, Mirror, Phone

MONET: Paintbrush, Sketchbook, Phone

• Sound

DIAGETIC: Traffic, People talking in the background, Vinyl Playing music, Phone Calls

NON-DIAGETIC: Soundtrack[ New Heroes - TEN, River - Bishop Briggs, Bad Blood - Ministry]

Script
Shot List

Preliminary Task: Learner's Response

Type up your teacher's feedback in full plus a summary of the comments you received from other students in the class.

• Interesting camerawork throughout and creative editing (split screen) very 'C4 Drama'
• Speeding up people walking needs to be 'time-lapse' fast or nothing. Here, I don't know why you sped everything up- a slower pace to communicate the narrative surely would've worked?
• Freat font for title.
• Voiceover good but rushed!
• Audio levels were too loud
• Edit was too quick- should be slower
• Split Screen and ending shot communicated the genre and feel greatly.

Using a combination of your own reflection on the preliminary exercise and the feedback you were given, write three WWW bullet points and three EBI bullet points for your TV drama scene.

WWW:

• The font used, and overall feel of the trailer was extremely on brand for a Channel 4 drama.
• The voiceover was clear and had a lot of potential
• The characters looked their age, and the settings used fit the overall concept of the drama.

EBI:

• The audio levels matched- and were more appropriate
• The edit wasn't as rushed- take your time with editing and composition
• Timelapse speed for montage rather than only slightly sped up

How effectively did you complete the objective you laid out in your mini preliminary exercise statement of intent?

• The concept was clear, and the script was communicated well however the phone call was unclear and the overall timing was mismatched meaning some aspects of mise-en-scene and the overall scene idea were ignored or poorly executed.

What have you learned from the preliminary exercise that will help you in the actual coursework project?

• That I should edit my work slower than I perhaps may think- as well as keeping the C4 Drama brand obviously and noticeable throughout my production. I also think I need a wider variety of shots and to include a voiceover as well as a backing track may make the concept much clearer.

Now you have completed the preliminary exercise, will you change anything in your actual TV drama trailer? This could include narrative, character and script or technical elements such as mise-en-scene, camerawork and sound

• I think that overall I will keep my concept, however I will perhaps keep the ending shot and implement it into my trailer as well as highlighting character differences more explicitly within my camerawork and mise-en-scene choices. I feel as if the characters weren't recognisable and the static lighting made it difficult to communicate the post-modern feeling I aim to present with my actual trailer. I also will be conscious of audio levels, and ensuring that diagetic and non-diagetic sound flow together instead of being disjointed and amateurish.

Preliminary Exercise - Family Scene

FINAL VIDEO

State the genre you have chosen for your TV drama - family or crime drama.

• Family

Choose three TV dramas similar to your concept and watch the trailer and one scene from each. 

• Euphoria:  Clear use of lighting, a juxtaposition of close up and medium shots for effect, the 'power shot' uses dark lighting and mise-en-scene to capture the character, as well as the music fitting the atmosphere of the scene. The use of colour and 'background noise' as a way to create atmosphere allows the trailer to capture the cinematic potential as well as the realistic themes of the show. 
• Marvel's Runaways: Close up shots, as well as narration and the use of sound bridges allows the juxtaposition between scenes to be far more subtle. The costume/makeup allows the actress to look young but still conforms to the idea that teenagers have to look older/more attractive for lack of a better phrase in order to make teen dramas more profitable
• Umbrella Academy:  The aerial shot allows sub textual meanings about barriers, boundaries and entrapment to be communicated as well as framing the characters in the middle of the staircases being a clear artistic choice. The mise-en-scne accurately communicates the genre whereas the sound establishes the narrative and the atmosphere for the show itself. The lighting, similar to the above two, is very natural- if not unnaturally so with the shadows and highlights being clearly exaggerated.

Write a script for your TV drama scene.

• Script

Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. 

• Shot List and Schedule

Plan your mise-en-scene: 

• RIVER: Blue T-shirt and Pyjama trousers, No makeup but there's signs of eyeshadow, and foundation on their hand suggesting they'd been playing around with it. The lighting is natural however there is a soft blue tone to it, the bed is unmade and the room is slightly messy- obviously lived in. River's cat lies on the bed and Alannah Myles' 'Lover of Mine' plays almost inaudibly in the background as River speaks on the phone. River moves around a lot on the phone, from swapping positions to cleaning up, I will need a phone, clothes, school textbooks, books, a cat, as well as makeup and a radio/device to play the music from.
• FLEUR: Dungarees, and button down shirt, natural makeup but bright yellow eyeliner- that calls the cameras attention. Natural lighting, the route she walks allows shadows to show up on her face and figure regularly. Props needed are a phone, a school bag, a necklace, a lollipop. It will be filmed in various outdoor locations, with typical outdoor noise and traffic noises acting as background music for Fleur's conversation with River. Fleur is obviously dazed as she walks, and takes various shortcuts as well as moving fluidity and carelessly. She has notes scribbled on the back of her hand and after she hangs up the phone, she puts in/on headphones.