Tuesday 28 April 2020

Lesson 1. The Film Industry Contexts - Production

Film production is the process of making a film. Filmmaking involves a number of discrete stages including an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, sound recording and reproduction, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and exhibition.

This lesson is all about you learning more about who a producer is and what they do.

Watch these two short documentaries and make notes on what the various industry insiders say about what producers are, how the role of a producer works, and has changed in recent years. By the end of this lesson you should have a good idea of what film production is all about, and have some examples to illustrate those ideas.

You also have different kinds of producers. You get Producers, Executive Producers, Co-Producers, Associate Producers, and most significantly, the Line Producer, who is like the Stage Manager on a film - sometimes they are called a Unit Production Manager - they actually make sure people are paid, get fed, turn up for the right set-ups and shots at the right time...

Filmmaking takes place in many places around the world in a range of economic, social, and political contexts, and using a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques. Typically, it involves a large number of people, and can take from a few months to several years to complete...


Now read this blog which has some interesting articles on Film Production that will help expand your understanding. Scroll through the blog posts and choose three that you think look interesting and read them and make general notes.
HW. Read the booklet and which is a guide to the concept of film production. It should be read in support of the documentary from Film Education and the other work above.


Wednesday 22 April 2020

Ex Machina. Is Alex Garland an Auteur?



What is an Auteur?

Four Trailers

Script Development

Video Interview (15 mins): Alex Garland: how we made Ex Machina | BFI - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIugmpD9UXk&feature=emb_title

Influences on Garland

Familiar Themes?

The Evolution of Robots in Movies & TV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yod4lziPgno

Homework Task

Watch the second video interview with Garland and the short articles all linked to below.
Garland speaks explicitly about film being a collaborative medium and how the idea of him being an auteur is not correct. Yet others see him as an Auteur. Do you agree? Write at least three paragraphs defining what an auteur is, then giving the case for and against Garland as an auteur, explaining why you agree or disagree with him.
Video Interview (30 mins): Alex Garland: "Ex Machina" | Talks at Google - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIugmpD9UXk&feature=emb_title
Ex Machina’s Alex Garland talks robots and why the auteur theory is “bullshit” –
Alex Garland: An Auteur in the Making? -

Monday 20 April 2020

Documentary Filmmakers - John Grierson

Night Mail is available here to watch for free...

Grierson's earlier documentary Drifters is available below...




This week’s work will teach us about the work of documentary producer and director John Grierson.

The methodology is that you should read Pages 2 to 8 in the Documentary Booklet 3 available either via the Hub here:
https://learning.alleyns.org.uk/film-studies/year-13-film-studies/02-critical-approaches-to-film-documentary-section-b/clash-of-the-titans-grierson-vs-pennebaker

Or in the Files section of this Team at the top of the page. I think you may already have a hard copy of this.

You should then watch the film The Night Mail.

And then watch at least 15-20 minutes of his film Drifters (it’s 40 mins long, and ironically, as it’s about fishermen, a bit dry).

You'll be able to ask me questions about this either tomorrow or on Thursday in our live lessons.

TASK: Summarise the key elements of Grierson’s approach to documentary filmmaking. You should write about two paragraphs.
What influence has Grierson had on Sarah Polley’s documentary Stories We Tell? You should write about two paragraphs.


EXPLORE GRIERSON

Watch Night Mail at the BFI Online:
(http://www.griersontrust.org/assets/files/articles/john-grierson-n-pronay.pdf )
http://libguides.stir.ac.uk/archives/Grierson  - Archive of Grierson’s work at the
University of Stirling
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012p53d - BBC 4 Documentary Britain Through
a Lens: The Documentary Film Mob available online (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=v6fWe0tpSSg)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042rlbv - Clips from BBC 2 Documentary Documenting John Grierson.