2. Step 1: take stock
• what’s the task?
• what’s the assessment?
• what’s the timeframe?
• what’s the equipment?
• Write a blog about this. Title it: Taking Stock
3. task and assessment
• Titles and opening of a new fiction film
• up to 2 minutes
• 20 marks Research and Planning
• 60 marks Construction
• 20 marks Evaluation
• You could comment on these. See previous
slide.
4. timeframe and equipment
• build your skills
• build up your research
• build up your planning
• give yourselves time to shoot and edit
• keep evidence throughout the whole process
• The above are tips/suggestions/things you
should do/things you have done.
5. step 2: set up a blog
• and keep evidence of everything you do!
• Look at the next slide. There is a top mark blog
there. Notice how it is visually appealing, uses a
range of different media, shows progression and
is well managed. Time management is key.
7. Step 3: investigate
• what do film openings actually look like?
• what does other student work look like?
• what do you need to know about titles?
• how are you going to do something that stands out?
• You have started this. Develop it by making graphs,
doing focus groups, researching real thriller openings,
conducting surveys. Title your blog: Thriller Research
and Investigation
10. Titles exercise
It’s a worthwhile idea to do the next task. Go to the art of the
title.com and do a titles exercise. Reflect on what you did/
learned.; how will it impact your idea???
Title Blog: Titles Research
12. Step 4: brainstorm ideas
• possible scenarios for pitches/treatments
• 25 word pitch
• moodboard treatment
• peer and teacher feedback
• realistic expectations- keep it simple
• know the film but make the opening
• Do the above. Title the blog: Our Thriller Idea
13. Avoid these Cliche Openings: Six most
common student film openings
• Saw: victim tied up in shed
• Scream: hooded stalker follows female victim
• Waking up: clean teeth, brush hair, leave house
• Se7en: killer sticks knife in polaroid photos
• Lock, Stock: gangsters play cards
• Flashback or Flash forward
14. possible pitch scenarios
• low budget UK film with young teen
protagonist, set on housing estate
• supernatural thriller aimed at a female audience;
co-production with europe
• a character returns to town after years away
16. Step 5: Planning
• experimenting with camera and editing
• recce shots of locations
• examples of shots, costumes, props, etc onto
blog
• post-it storyboard, animatic, moodboard
• logistics planning- including risk assessment
• Do the above. Title this blog: Planning
17. step 6: the shoot
• people, places, props, costumes
• rehearsing
• equipment, jobs on the day
• keeping a record of the process
• Title this blog: Shooting Experience
18. Step 7: edit
• all having a voice/hand in it
• screengrabs of process
• importance of audio and titles
• foley - not just music
• rough cut deadline and peer feedback
• Post your rough cut on your blog
• Do the above. Leave plenty of time to edit and
refine your coursework. Look at the marking
scheme--the examiner will. Title Blog: Editing
20. step 8: final cut
• post teacher and peer feedback on blog
• reshoot if needed
• post editing process on blog
• submit on burned disc and post on blog
21. most common problems--review your
thriller to make sure you don’t have any
of these problems
• looks more like a trailer or a short film
• insufficient titles
• poor sound, poor lighting
• confusing for the viewer
• uses one of the six common openings
22. ways to make your blog posts
creative/engaging
• prezi’s, scribd
• edit shots
• scanned images of your notes, diary, texts, e-mails
• ‘test’ video/focus group videos/videos that inspire your idea
• images of your group working/images that inspire you
• Soundcloud, Flipsnap, Slideshare
• Writing
• and many many more
• Examiners want to see you engage in many types of media
