Feedback on your blogs so far...

Well done on beginning your blogging careers! I spent a little time checking through your progress this evening and wanted to pass on a couple of thoughts.

1. Remember that this site will be marked; therefore, don't use slang or text-speak, and remember your spelling, punctuation and grammar (I'm an English teacher, what do you expect?!).
2. Don't post a picture or video without commenting on it - otherwise it just looks a little random.
3. Try to ensure your blog design fits in with genre of your film or magazine.
4. Don't make silly comments on other people's blogs - offer advice or feedback if they ask for it, otherwise don't bother!

Remember, we'll be working on research at the start of next week before moving onto your preliminary projects.

The Usual Suspects Ending

The inspiration for my movie, the ending to the best film ever made!

This movie is embedded from YouTube. To do this, simply find the clip on YouTube and copy the embed code from the box on the right. You'll then need to paste the code into Word, before cutting and pasting it into a post. Then simply add some text (explaining or analysing the clip), before posting.

Importing Video...

Film coursework students will be expected to analyse film openings as part of their research. The clips, and your write-ups, will need to be published on your blog. To do this, simply click on 'new post' and then the 'add video' button. You can then choose the video from your computer to upload...

The simpler way is to find the video clip on Youtube then simply post the link here. You won't be able to view the video in school, but you will at home and, most importantly, the examiner will be able to view it!

Example blogs...

All students will complete a blog as part of their Foundation Portfolio. The post below gives information on the different sorts of research and planning tasks that you will need to include. Click the following link to have a look at a number of example blogs for Thriller projects...

http://thrillerproject.blogspot.com/2007/12/thriller-project-blogs-20067.html

Getting started with research and planning...

Any good media project must be grounded in thorough research and planning. A film project must begin by analysing film openings in the same genre as the opening you intend to produce; similarily a magazine project should analyse comparable magazine covers and spreads. Following this you should include:

For film projects -

Links to videos / film openings from other sites (eg: YouTube), along with your written analysis and observations.
Your initial ideas (with sketches) for your film.
Potential audience research - questionniares and surveys of potential audiences on their media habits and interests.
Emails, forums, message boards or any other communications with experts, directors, companies etc.
Storyboards.
Draft film - your online viewers can then leave their comments and suggestions.

For magazine projects -

Links to example magazine covers and spreads along with your analysis and comments.
Initial ideas and drafts, including sample titles, layouts, fonts and images.
Potential audience research - questionnaires and surveys of potential audiences on their media habits and interests.
Emails, forums, message boards or any other communications with experts, publishers, companies etc.
Trial photo shoots, both before and after editing.
Sample articles.
Mock-ups to gain audience feedback on your project.
Remember that anything original that you can add will mark your project out from the rest.