'Flash mobs' as film marketing technique

Use the post heading link to go to an interesting article on an alternative to mainstream, paid-for advertising; the example used is from Bollywood, but the concept is universally applicable.
Also useful to consider the increasing blurring of the lines between some Bollywood productions and British cinema, with an increasing number set and/or shot in the UK to help exploit the sizeable emigre market for Bollywood fare - several good articles on this can be found in the Film Guardian site. 

Press-tige

Look out for a few of your colleagues being photographically rendered in the local paper soon! The press can appreciate the significance of having work selected for a national film festival, a chance you will also have next year (look at the website for details).

E-mail me your blog URL + Points on blog

I need to refresh my e-mail list and to have your new blog URLs, so please e-mail me your blog URL by the end of Tuesday.
Please also make sure your blog can accept followers (by default this appears on your template).
Note that you can export your entire blog to a new address when we come to hand-in time in December, at which point the blog at the web address you give me cannot be altered, but you can still change your copy at a new URL.
Please don't include anything irrelevant, but do look at the options, perhaps a set of useful hyperlinks or newsfeeds to a site you've come across (as I've done on several blogs).
I'll post a list of these once I've got the complete list, and would urge you to comment on each others (you can pre-vet comments by changing options in ).

SHORT FILM RESOURCES: + TASK FOR ANYONE WORKING IN SHORT FILM

Look for task details at the end of this post

You'll find a wide range of materials here, useful support materials from this book.
There are several short film compilation DVDs in the library, including a [Region 1] Fangoria horror compilation, an excellent compilation from the Raindance Film Festival,  and Cinema 16, featuring the efforts of big-name directors when they were unknowns trying to make it with a short as a calling card.  

One of the key functions of the short within the media industry is to act as a calling card, enabling wannabe directors (and other production and acting talent) to showcase their abilities without having to attract major funding, so its worth referencing at least one example from this DVD when making this point.

You can find many more short film DVDs - such as these - by searching amazon or play.com for 'short film'.
There are also some books in F6/Library on short film. You can read much of an earlier version of Thurlow's book here.

Some useful links on short film: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_film;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/filmnetwork/Filmmakersguide; http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/insidefilmmaking/index.html; http://trapped.keystothefuture.org.uk/film/;
http://projectbreakout.com/shortfilm2

TASK: Very simple: checking you don't already see it below, post as a comment an overview of any significant source (producer, distributor and/or exhibitor) of short films, noting and commenting on type/s of short films they work with, one example of a specific short film that you think sums up this company/group/site (with link where available), title of/link to any shorts from them you'd recommend others watch (& why!), any festivals or other exhibition outlets (including DVDs produced), use of new media for distribution/exhibition, any prominent names associated with them. Cheers!

BLOG CHECKLIST updated Oct 15th

I've made a start on this - early updated draft can be found here,[update, 15th October] and a 2nd doc with some tips on institutional aspects can be found here. Do have a look at the first document, even in draft form, and think closely about the Evaluation in particular.

COURSE SYLLABUS, PAST PAPERS, SAMPLE EXAM ESSAYS etc

You'll find all the exam board's (OCR) documentation on the Media syllabus - which includes the assessment criteria for your coursework and exam, plus examples of question papers and exam essays - at http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/amlw/media_studies/documents/index.aspx
The latest version of the specification can be found here
The summary of the A2 Media course at IGS issued at the start of the year is here

20ish Steps To Cinematic Greatness: Production Stages

I've broken the coursework process down into about 20 stages - see this Word doc. I'll add some detail to these points in another Word doc later. [draft 2 here]
By now you'd hope to be at step 5 and beginning to finalise the details of your individual/group concept before launching into the pre-production work of casting, location scouting etc. DO START ON A BLOG NOW THOUGH!!! The blog address should be simply surname-forenamea2.blogspot.com and the blog's name straightforwardly 'Forename Surname's A2 Production'

******you can change the blog name, but not the URL, by clicking in your blog, and changing the words you see in the banner below the navbar (click )*******

THE COURSEWORK TASKS

G324: ADVANCED PORTFOLIO IN MEDIA

As provided in the course outline on the first day back, I've summarised the basics of the two coursework options, each of which require a main film-based production and two supporting texts, most likely print-based (though you could consider the radio trailer). Please disregard the website option; if you are doing the trailer task, you will also be doing the two print tasks.

Having canvassed opinion in July, there was a strong preference to do further film-based work. You can choose one of the following two options for this:

2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the film; [disregard this option]
a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
a poster for the film.

10. A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minutes, which may be live action or animated or a combination of both, together with two of the following three options:
a poster for the film;
a radio trailer for the film;
a film magazine review page featuring the film.

Oh dear, ideas...

For anyone still struggling with forging a clear, cohesive narrative concept, consider this: many short films in particular take one aspect of life as we know and displace it - rather like applying the commutation theory. We've seen what appeared to be a musical but actually turned out to be a tale about a crazed suicide bomber.* The twist in this narrative as we reached the denouement (the finale, or new equilibrium) is of course the second key aspect of short films, which often (thirdly) play about with narrative expectations in other ways, not least by foreshortening the opening stage of equilibrium, or using narrative enigmas to close - which would not be acceptable to an audience of a feature-length film.

So, if you can think about one, perhaps seemingly trivial, aspect of conventional everyday life, and apply the commutation theory - change this factor in some way - you could have the starting point for a narrative. We've seen another example of this in the short film which has a scientist sparking a social revolution by creating a formula that allows us to become dogs** - simply changing one element of everyday life, or adding a new factor in. After that, specific setting, events, timescale, mise-en-scene, characters etc have to be teased out, but you have created the basis of a diegetic world to explore on film.

Take this last example - you can see trailers for three shorts by Ben Gregor & Tim Plester at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ58dz_HRsM In each of these (Blake's Junction 7, Ant Muzak, World of Wrestling) the narrative concept is quite simple: take iconic figures from 1980s popular culture and plonk them into mundane, everyday contemporary situations where some issue, ranging from the end of the universe to losing your drummer, loosely ties together the narrative. SFX are very limited - we'll watch clips from these on Monday in class time - and costumes, while good enough to achieve a sense of verisimilitude for the diegetic world created, retain an edge of campness.

A quality cast also helped - MacKenzie Crook, Martin Freeman (lead in another great example*** on the Future Shorts DVD), Johnny Vegas and others - but the main production costs were crew and costume, and a principle challenge gaining access to the preferred locations to shoot.

In audience terms, while surely targeted at a mature, nostalgia-driven audience circa 30-40, and although the postmodern preferred reading hinges on familiarity with those icons portrayed (see the Adam Ant 'Prince Charming' video for example - the still to the left is from this, and the shot above is taken above Ant Muzak) and the ability to read the intertextual references, it works as a dry comedy for a broader youth audience of 15-34 even without this cultural knowledge.

So, you don't always have to think in rigid genre lines - though doing so could render your research somewhat more straightforward. We'll also consider some examples of last year's short film productions on Monday.

I'll look at all your animatics - these effectively begin the process of marking you on the coursework - BUT if you come up with a new idea which you consider to be a more effective prospect, thats the one we'll explore and feedback on with the class.  

Even if you're sure you will work in a certain group on a certain idea, make an honest effort at this - and try to see that your idea wins out and attracts a loyal band of co-producers!

* 3. 7:35 In The Morning
Dir. Nacho Vigalondo / Spain / 2003 - A woman enters a restaurant one morning - only to be met with silence instead of people talking.

**  5. La Vie d'un Chien
Dir. John Harden / USA / 2005 - A wonderful homage to Chris Marker's 'La Jetee' and an ode to freedom of love: a scientist synthesizes a drug that enables him to consume his love for his pet dog.

***  12. I Just Want You
Dir. Jamie Thraves / UK / 1989 - A homage to the French New Wave and a touching story of friendship and love.