Now you have started your research and planning it is a good idea to use the work of students over the last few years to guide you as to what constitutes top level work.
Here's an example of a blog that received 19/20 for their planning:
On Max's Coursework sheet I wrote up the following:
Max demonstrated excellence in all of the Level 4 skills. Whilst he worked in a pair with Charlie, a lot of the Research was undertaken individually. Throughout the whole research and planning process he was tirelessly committed to the project. His research of the thriller genre is particularly impressive, analysing the more main stream thrillers alongside film noir openings and creating notes and mood boards on his influences in terms of stylistics and tone– including colour palate and lighting. The audience research was thorough including survey, analysis, vox-pop interviews, key focus interview on the film ‘Drive’, investigation into certification, industry and representation. Planning was equally detailed involving photographic stills, shotlist, edited location recee with v/o, storyboard animatic with sound. Max researched sound himself from older noir films and Hitchcock, creating a playlist on Final Cut of influences. He also investigated a range of idents and studios in order to plan his own ident and graphics. The pair working together shared all decisions, rehearsed with the digital audio recorders to make decisions on sound and managed their time over this process, with schedules, very efficiently. Each blog entry is very detailed and well organized which is true to this student’s approach to the project overall.
For you to get similar marks you need to do similar things.
It begins with Research into Similar Media Texts - he writes about 8 separate films overall.
His Pre-Production Proposal was details and illustrated with images and clips from films that were influencing him - Max Twyman's Pre-Production Proposal
Here's Willa Hope's version from the year before: Pre-Production Proposal
What's the Definition of a Thriller? How does your film conform to those expectations? Definition of a Thriller
What's your Narrative? Tell us your story and how the opening sequence fits into the story. Here are a couple of examples: Willa Hope: Narrative - Max Twyman: Narrative
Film Script - This is a good example of how to layout a Script...
Location Research - this should include photos of your intended locations with reason why you are using them and what effect they have on the script/idea. Max has 4 separate entries for his Location posts.
Willa Hope - Max Twyman - Christoph MacDowall
Location Recces - This is where you take a camera to the locations and do some filming to see if your ideas can work in real life. Southbank Recce -
Character Profiles - introduce each character including their costume and name/role - Protagonist/antagonist etc.
Max Twyman - Protagonist - Willa Hope - Character Costume - Props and Actors
Audience Research - you're going to need to know what Certificate your film is:
Questionnaire - Survey Findings - Interview - Vox Pops - Summary
Style and Tone - Here's an example of a thriller opening heavily influenced by Film Noir...
Graphics / Titles / Idents - Titles/graphics practice - Graphics research -
Soundtrack / Music - Max posted several times exploring issues around soundtrack - here is his main post. Here are some other posts on Sound to help give you ideas...
Shotlist - Here are two examples of very good shotlists - Willa and Bea - Max and Charlie
Storyboard - Here is the storyboard posted onto the blog - and here is the storyboard turned into an animatic - you should do both these things...
Shooting Schedule - This is where you organise what you are going to shoot on what days/dates and times. Here is a good example - Willa and Bea -
