LAUNCHING B324 PRODUCTION PORTFOLIO

 
Today we start work on the Production Portfolio in Media Studies by creating a PowerPoint outline of the Evaluation. This tells you how we will research, produce, construct and evaluate the production.
We spend time thinking about creative film making by exploring creative camerawork and editing:

• The key conventions of a good film opening are enigma (What is happening? We are curious to find out) and suspense (What will happen next? We must keep watching to find out).
• We watch the opening credits of Suits  and focus on camerawork (ECU of cuffs; tie) and how it tells the audience about genre and character. We look at editing (slomo and speeded up) and how it creates a sense of place (world of busy cut throat New York lawyers). Editing also refers to sound and vision editing: we note how the theme tune Greenback Boogie creates a sense of place, tension and fun.
• You are given the treatment for a film opening (words) and asked to visualize the camerawork needed (shot types, camera angles, camera movement). 
• For example, in our film treatment, how do we tell the audience that the beggar has no legs? That the woman who stops by to apparently donate money is an undercover police officer? Our solutions: CUs (close ups) on beggar's knee area; ECUs (extreme close ups) on officer's almost concealed badge 
• You are asked to plan edits to make meaning (how the shots are connected). For example, how do we show the audience that the beggar makes out that he's starving? Solution: mid shot of beggar raiding trash can followed by ECU of beggar cramming contents of 'doggie bag' of thrown away food into his mouth.
• Good editing involves variety (different camera angles, shot types and movement) and effective continuity editing (the story makes sense to the audience; it leads them along). 
• Remember our lesson on Les Bleus de Ramville: there are reasons why this is an award winner!
• You are asked to think up a number of different CUs and ECUs for the beggar. You came up with ECU the beggar wiping his mouth on his cuff; the beggar picking his teeth; the beggar slurping from a bottle.

PREP : Watch a film opening and present it to the class, with an explanation of why it is good. Use these terms:
shot types, camera angles, camera movement, variety
continuity editing
enigma
suspense