Student Guide to Research & Planning Blog Content

1. HARROW COLLEGE
Foundation Portfolio in Media
Film Titles & Opening
Research & Planning – Guide to Blog Content
snorton-taylor
2016/17
A guide for AS media students Foundation Portfolio in Media Blog content.

2. 1
LABEL CLOUDS
Names of group members must be clearly written on all the blog posts which
they have contributed to!
 Preliminary Exercise
 Title Sequence Research
 Genre Research
 FilmInstitutions Research
 Audience Research
 Subject Matter Research
 Pre-Production
 Construction
 Post-Production
 Evaluation

3. 2
Presenting Your Research & Planning
The research & planning has to be presented digitally, on the blog,
so you have the opportunity to present it in a number of number of
different forms and you are actively encouraged to be experimental
with this.
Your blog should NOT be a collection of essays that have been cut
and pasted! You have the opportunity to be more creative in how
you as an individual & as a group, present your research & plannning.
For example, emaze, Prezi, Wix, screen grabs, photos, collages,
video/vlogs etc –
MAKE THE BLOG VISUALLY INTERESTING & ENGAGING!
You should note that the best marks go to those who really try to
engage with digital formats as enthusiastically as possible!
It is important to note that the research & planning element is worth
20 marks, which is a fifth of the marks for coursework overall, so it is
important that you take it seriously and do it well.

4. 3
In order to produce an A grade blog you must make sure that you complete the following:
 Have minimum of 45 good blogs that clearly relate to your research, planning and
production.
 Use the blogging checklist as a guide for blogging. If you complete ALL of the posts
on the checklist, you are more likely to get a high grade.
 Blogs must be clearly labelled with your name/and group member who contributed
to post, and posted in chronological order. Clearly write the stage of the project at
the beginning of the title for each blog ('research', 'pre-production' or 'construction'
etc).
 Have no unexplained gaps in your blog - it must account for the entire process of the
coursework unit. We look for you to post to the blog at least 3 times a week (every 2
or 3 days). You will lose marks if there are any gaps in your blog.
 Make good use of ICT in your blog entries. Don’t reply on just typing into the post, try
to be as visually creative as possible.

5. 4
i Introduce your group – posta photoand welcome note
ii Findand embedyour Prelimfilmand evaluation
Title Sequence Research
completed Date
1 What isthe purpose of a title sequenceandfilmopening?Summarise
whatyou learnedabouttitle sequencesandfilmopeningsinclass.
2 How can a filmopeningattractan audience?Type upyouranswersto
the questionsforthe Documentary“Watching”!
3 What makesa good title sequence accordingtoKyle Cooper?Type up
the mainpointshe makes. Extra – watch other interviews withtitle
designersfromwatchthetitles.com –summarise whattheysay!
http://watchthetitles.com/
4 Analyse 2filmtitle sequences fromwww.artofthetitle.com andembed
them,withcomments,intoyourblog – thiscouldbe done as a nine
frame analysis.
5 Title sequence timeline - Whatconclusionscanyoumake about the titles
usedintitle sequences?Listthe ORDER we see the title creditsin,the
lengthof the creditsandthe fontstylesandsizesused –you can make
reference tomore thanone example.
What are the 4 differenttypesof filmopenings? Pickyourfavourite
‘type’of title sequence andembed anexampleinthe blogwithsome
explanationof whyyoulike it.
Genre Research
6 Historyof the horror genre – thiscan be brief –use Sam’sresources –
youneedto demonstrate the codes& conventionsof the horrorgenre
and howtheyhave developedovertime.
7 Demonstrate yourunderstandingof the conventionsof genre and/or
sub-genre thatyouwill be workingin –to include reflectionsof Fear
Itself doc – use otheryoutube docsetc butmust evaluate
8
ANALYSE 2 title sequence of your chosen genre (horror) and post your
findings of the following:
The MACRO elements(genre,narrative,keythemes,characters,
atmosphere)
The MICRO elements(typical usesof camera,editing,soundand mise-
en-scene)
The ORDER OFTHE TITLE CREDITS
9 Collage/moodboardof iconographyassociatedwiththe genre/sub-genre
10 Researchintoiconichorrordirectors – case studies (orrecent
newcomerstothe genre!)

6. 5
11 How popularisthe horror genre?Use evidence tosupportyourpoints –
BFI statistical yearbook!
12 Horror filmthemes/narratives - chose one or twothat are of particular
interesttoyou/yourgroup
Film Institutions Research
13 Research production/distributioncompanyidents/logos
14 Whichinstitution/ studio will distribute your film? Whichcompanyis
likelytodistributethe filmyouare creatingatitle sequence for?Give
examplesof otherfilmstheyhave produced/distributed?
15 Researchinto BBFC classificationguidelines –how will thisinfluence
your production?
Audience Research
16 Questionnaires to find out about potential target audience – with
analysis of results
17 Interviewswithpotential target audiences – qualitative research – with
analysis of results
18 Audience profile – who is the demographic for your film? Create an
audience profile for your ideal target audience member
Subject Matter Research
19 Researchintorepresentationalissues
20 Detailedcharacterisations
21 Demonstrate yourunderstandingof the themesof youropening
Pre-Production
22 Skillsdevelopment – Activity1 – all materials
23 Blog your group’s initial creative ideas– thiscouldbe typedor a videoor
soundrecordingof yourgroup discussions
24 Blogyour own individual idea/outline for a title sequence – say which
genre will you create /initial plotorstoryline ideas/ keycharacter
‘types’/social groups thatyoumightintroduce
25 Askyour targetaudience whichofyour group’sideas do theyprefer and
howit will appeal tothem – postevidence of whattheysay
26 Productioncompanyname/profile/logo –developmentof logodesign
27 Final ideas - post yourFINAL IDEA foryour title sequence

7. 6
28 Complete a rough storyboard / shot listfor your title sequence – must
include the orderof the title credits,keyshottypes,edits,sound
references&keymise-en-scene decisions
29 Final title credits - Listthe orderof title creditsANDa shortlistof font
stylesandtypeface youwouldliketouse
30 Final mise-en-scenedecisions–postfinal decisionsof
locations/costume/propswithphotosorfilmedevidence
31 Complete draft production schedule
32 Post evidence ofyour casting auditions for actors and extras
33 Final storyboard – post final storyboardthatincorporatesanychanges
made fromyour firstdraft
34 Drafts & final script
35 Pitch- Complete all pitch tasks and ensure theyare postedtothe blog in
eitherPREZI or PPT format
36 Pitch Feedback– post up peerandteacherfeedbackfromyourPitch
37 Pitch evaluation– reflectonthe keypointsfromyourfeedbackandpost
up 3 targets that youMUST complete inresponse toyourfeedback
before filming
38 Complete a filming‘runthrough’ and postup evidence of thistoyour
blog
39 Final production schedule – postup final productionschedule that
accounts forchangesin ideasorplanning
Construction
40 Evidence from filmingsessions –this could be in the form of annotated
photos, videowithcommentary - at endof everydayfilming,
evaluating/reflectingonitsprogress(technical difficulties,storyboard
changesetc)
41 Blogall feedbackof work(lecturer,audience,peer) fromyourraw
footage/rushes
42 Constructyour PRODUCTIONCOMPANYIDENT – withevidence of
development
Post-Production
43 Screengrabs/printscreens/phone photos of editingprocess/sessions –
addingeffectsetc
44 Evaluationof decisionmaking includingfeedback
45 Rough cut 1 withfeedback
46 Rough cut 2 withtarget audience Feedback
47 Rough cut 3 withtarget audience Feedback

8. 7
48 Final embeddedvideo
49 Audience feedback –ESSENTAIL feedbackoncompletedproduction
Evaluation
50 Individual evaluations clearlylabelled – Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, Q6, Q7
51 Final bloggingtask: Produce a vlogwhere you formallyclose off your
blog. You mightwantto say howsuccessful youfeel youhave beenand
howwell youfeel yourblogdocumentsall aspects of the research,
planningandproductionof yourFoundationPortfolio
Research & Planning (max 20 marks) – Marking Criteria
OCR Level 4 criteria (16-20 marks)
 Planning and research evidence will be complete and detailed;
 There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target
audience;
 There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props;
 There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or
storyboarding;
 There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and
planning;
 Time management is excellent.

9. 8
Research&Planning Blog – Additional Informationand Guidance for blogging
How your Blog will be marked
Your blog is a media text in its own right and will be marked based 6 different descriptors. Below
each descriptorisanexplanationorreference towhatitmeansor what youcouldinclude toprovide
evidence to gain marks.
Research & Planningevidence will be
complete and thorough
You needtocomplete asmanyof the taskson the blogging
checklistaspossible.Aimforaminimumof 45 postsfrom
the checklisttoattaina high grade.
Research intosimilar products and
audience
Similarproducts: show that youknow whata title
sequence is,the typesof titlesthereare andthe orderthat
title creditsshouldappearin. Show thatyouknow what
genre isand have analysedatleast2 openingsfromthe
genre youare workinginto evidenceyouunderstandwhat
the genre conventionsof atitle sequenceare.
Audience research:show that youknow what an audience
is,what a targetaudience is,whatgenresaudienceslike
and that youhave carriedout some primaryresearchto
ask audienceswhattheylike.The bestblogswillalsoask
theirtargetaudience forfeedbackduringthe planningand
roughcut stagesto findoutif the audience like theirideas
or title sequence drafts.
Evidence of organiseduse of actors,
props, locationand costume
Show evidence (photos,videos,discussions,twitteror
Instagramfeedsetc…) of yourplanning,findingand
finalisingideasaboutactors,props,locationandcostumes.
You mustshow evidence of these planningstagesandof
your final decisions.If yourfinal titlesequencehas
differentactors,props,locationsand/orcostumes,you
MUST blogabout the changesand give reasonswhy,
otherwise youwilllose marks.Youmustalsoinclude an
updatedproduction schedule.
Evidence of drafting,scripting and
layouts
Show draftsor discussionsof yourearlyideas, ashotlistor
draft storyboard,final storyboardandatleast2 rough cuts
withfeedbackandtargetsinresponse tothe feedback.
Care in the presentationof work Make sure your workincludesarange of appsor ICT to
presentyourideasvisuallyandnotjusttypingdirectlyinto
the post.Make sure the textandcoloursyou choose
complementyourfilmideasandare clearand easyto read.
Make sure youuse posttitlesandlabelsare clearto read
and that yourblogis easyto navigate.

10. 9
Time management Make sure youpost to yourblogat least3 timesweekly
and that there are no unexplainedgapsinyourblogging.
You mustalso have regularattendance andpunctuality.
You cannot be labelledforanygroupor planningactivities
that youare absentfrom.
Additional Extension Tasks
Studentsare alwaysencouragedto posttheirownindividual bloggingtasksthataren’tonthe
bloggingchecklistbutwill contributetotheirlearning,the qualityof the final productionandhelpto
increase the final markforthe blog.
Beloware some suggestionsof extensiontasksthat youmightwantto complete duringyour
coursework.
 Find3 real mediatextsthat really influence you.Postscreengrabs/embedclipswithsome
explanationof howyoumightuse theminyourownproduction.
 Create an editedvideoof yourinterviewswithyourtargetaudience andaskthemabout
theirfilmtastesandpreferences
 Go to the cinemaandinterviewpeople aboutwhichfilmtheysaw,whethertheynoticedthe
title sequenceandwhattheythoughtof it.Make some conclusionsabouttheiranswers
 Filmandeditinterviewswithdirector,cinematographer,editor,sounddesigner,actorsand
title designerof yourtitle sequence andpostthemtoyour blog
 Create a productiondiary/vlogcommentary –editevidenceof youfilmingwitha
commentarythatassesseswhatyouwere doingandhow successful youwere
 Create shorttutorialsshowinghow youuse the editingsoftware egFinal Cut
 Create shorttutorialsshowinghow youmightuse a specificfunctioninaneditingapp – such
as applyingacolourbalance or speedinguporslowingdownfootage.

11. 10
Presenting your work – ICT and APPS that you can use
You are notawardedmarks forusingICT or applicationsinyourFoundationblogbut,youare
markedon howwell youhave presentedyourresearchandplanning evidence.Therefore,you
are encouragedtobe creative withusingICTappsand visual presentationtoolsratherthan
simplytypingdirectlyintothe blogpost.Here are some youcan use:
Suggestionsfor ways to present
your ideas:
 Screenshots
 Photos
 Screenrecordingsusing
Quicktime
 Videoclipsthatyou’ve
recorded
 Audioclips
 Embeddedvideos
 Linksto websites
 Vlogs
 Ownwebsite (usingWix or
similar)
 Animations
 Brainstorms
 Electronicmoodboards
 Gifs
Suggestedapps or piecesof techto helpyou present
your work:
 Padlet
 Thinglink
 Mindmeister
 Ibrainstorm
 Powtoon
 Emaze
 Animaticstoryboards
 Animoto
 Speakerdeck
 ABC notes(Iphone app)
 Voki
 Photosnack
 Kizoa
 Prezi
 Wordle
 Wix
 Photosharingsites
 TimeToast
 VoiceThread
 Diigo
 Camtasia
 Moovly

12. 11
Individual Final Evaluation Questions
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered by all group members:
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of existing thriller/horror film openings?
2. How does your film opening represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your film?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

13. 12
Example Blogging Tools: 2016-17
Audio tools
https://www.podomatic.com/login
Create and upload your own podcast or find a variety of free podcasts.
Video tools
http://www.wevideo.com/education
WeVideo is an online video editing program that you can use
collaboratively with others. It is easy to add effects, music and narration to a
personal or group project. WeVideo also takes the hassle out of sharing by
providing options for popular social media sites.
http://www.tubechop.com/
If your students want to include a YouTube video that isn’t
entirely appropriate or relevant, use Tubechop to cut out all of the excess and
only keep what they want to show.
Organisation tools
www.google.com

14. 13
Google Calendar is great for planning lessons, exams and keeping track of
assignment due dates. It’s fast, intuitive, and only requires a Google account.
It also has the ability to sync with some smart phones.
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
Remember the Milk is a free online to-do list and task manager. It’s cool
because you can use it from a number of different platforms including Gmail,
Twitter, iPad, iPhone, Android, and more.
http://www.cueprompter.com/
A lot of students have a hard time giving class presentations, but
Cueprompter helps to relieve some of the nerves. Copy and paste your script
into the box and it displays just like a real teleprompter. Plus, it’s free to use.
Photo storage
http://photobucket.com/
Photobucket is a popular website that can be used to store and share your
images and videos for free. It’s a handy tool for transferring files between your
home and work computer.
http://www.flickr.com/
Like Photobucket, Flickr is another free image hosting service that allows you
to access your files from any computer with an internet connection.

15. 14
http://www.mediafire.com/
MediaFire is a free file and image hosting website. It is nice because you can
upload and download your documents from any computer with an internet
connection and only you have access to them.
Sharing tools
http://www.slideshare.net/
SlideShare is one of the most popular ways to upload and share
PowerPoint presentations and other documents. Again, this is a great tool for
transferring documents between your home and school computer without
having to carry around a flash drive.
http://www.scribd.com/
Scribd is a web 2.0 document sharing site where you can upload, store and
embed various types of files. It’s another popular option for moving files
between your home and school computer.
http://www.4shared.com/

16. 15
Enjoy 10GB of free file storage at 4shared. Since everything is stored in the
cloud, you can access it from any computer with an internet connection.
http://www.authorstream.com/
AuthorSTREAM is another one of many websites that allow you to upload a
PowerPoint presentation and access it from any computer with an internet
connection. It’s nice because you can select the privacy settings you want for
your PowerPoint.
http://123.writeboard.com/new
Writeboard allows you to create sharable, web-based text documents that let
you save and view every version of your content. It can be used as an
individual or collaboratively which makes it perfect for group assignments.
Mindmapping/Brainstorm/timelines/graphs tools
http://quizlet.com/
As one of the largest and most popular flashcard creation websites around,
Quizlet allows students and teachers to customize their own “sets” of
flashcards. You can manage access to the flashcards you create and share
them with your students.

17. 16
http://www.dipity.com/
With Dipity, you can find, create and embed interactive timelines. The best
part is that you can add photos to customize the look of each timeline. This
website is especially useful for providing your students with a visual
representation of a sequence of events.
http://www.timetoast.com/
Timetoast is a great way to share the past, or even the future... Creating a
timeline takes minutes, it's as simple as can be.
http://www.gliffy.com/
You can use Gliffy to create attractive and professional graphic organizers
like Venn diagrams and flow charts. Unfortunately, to receive full access to
their services, you have to pay for it. However, you can sign up for a free 30
day trial.
https://bubbl.us/
Use Bubbl.us to create colorful online mind maps. It’s great for class
discussions and brainstorming sessions
http://nces.ed.gov/NCESKIDS/createagraph/default.aspx
Use Create-a-Graph to make attractive graphs for free. Choose from bar, line,
area, pie and simple XY coordinate graphs.

18. 17
http://www.mindomo.com/
Mindomo is another online mind mapping tool. It’s neat because you can
collaborate in real-time with others and share/embed what you’ve created.
You get three free mind maps.
https://tricider.com/en/t/
Tricider is great for online brainstorming and voting and can be used to
gather feedback from your students on class projects and awards. You can
even embed and share your topic which makes it easy to get responses.
http://www.tagxedo.com/
Tagxedo is an awesome word cloud creation tool. You can turn customized
text, websites, blogs, twitter accounts and more into stunning designs based
on the frequency of words found in the medium. There are numerous designs
and color schemes to choose from that can be saved to your computer or
shared.
http://www.wordle.net/
Wordle.Create beautiful word clouds from text that you provide.
Like Tagxedo, it gives prominence towords that appear most frequently. You
can save, print and share your creation.
Filming the screen tools

19. 18
http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/
Screencast-O-Matic is an online screen recorder with a one-
click recording feature. You can use it from your browser on either a Windows
or Mac computer.
http://www.screencast.com/
Screencast is another media storage website. With a free account, you get
2GB of storage and 2GB of bandwidth a month. You keep the rights to
everything you upload and you can determine the privacy settings for each
file. From there, Screencast makes it easy to share and embed your media.
Screencast also works seamlessly with TechSmith’s screen recording
Camtasia software.
http://www.screenr.com/
Screenr is one of the best instant screencast tools available. It’s free and you
can record on your PC or Mac, play it anywhere—even on your iPhone—and
there’s nothing to download (as long as you have JAVA installed on your
computer).
Image and video comment tools
http://voicethread.com/
VoiceThread’s group conversations are stored and shared in one
place, from anywhere in the world. It allows you to create

20. 19
multimedia slideshows with images, videos and documents. Others can view
the slides and then leave text, audio or video comments.
http://blabberize.com/
Blabberize is a fun web 2.0 tool that allows you to upload a picture (of a
person or animal), select its mouth, and make it talk by adding an audio file.
Like Gizmoz, your students are sure to get a kick out of it!
Image editing tools
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
Create your own comic strip for free. You can write in English,
Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Latin. After you’re done
creating, you can print your customized comic or email it to yourself.
http://pixlr.com/
Pixlr is a free online photo editing tool. It’s like PhotoShop, but
much more affordable!
http://www.picmonkey.com/
PicMonkey makes creative tools for photo editing and graphic
design.

21. 20
Presentation tools
https://prezi.com/
Prezi is a really neat cloud-based presentation program that allows you to
zoom in and out. If you don’t mind your slides being public, you can sign up for
a free account with 100MB of storage.
http://animoto.com/
Use Animoto to easily create presentations and videos with your own images
and music, or choose from a library of stock files. Teachers can apply for a
free Animoto Plus account.
https://www.diigo.com/
Use Diigo to highlight text and images on webpages that you’ve found and
then access them at a later date from your Diigo account. You can also create
sticky notes if you need to write additional comments. When you return to the
website, all of the annotations you made are still there.
http://www.glogster.com/
Glogster is a social network that allows users to create free interactive
posters, or Glogs. A "Glog", short for "graphics blog", is an interactive
multimedia image. It looks like a poster, but readers can interact with the
content.

22. 21
http://www.zooburst.com/
ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her
own 3D pop-up books.
Scrapbook tools
http://padlet.com/
Padlet (formerly WallWisher) is basically an online message board where you
post “Sticky Notes.” You can make one for yourself to help you remember
important events and dates, or create one for your class. You can even
choose to approve each sticky note before it is created so that you can
monitor what’s being said.
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/scrapblog
Scrapblog is an online, flash-based multimedia scrapbook editor. It allows you
to quickly combine your images, audio, and video into ‘scrapblogs’.

23. 22
Other useful sites
 http://www.artofthetitle.com/
 http://thefilmstage.com/features/the-25-most-memorable-opening-scenes-in-film/
 http://www.watchthetitles.com/
 http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/12/19/30-unforgettable-movie-title-sequences/
 http://www.sbbfc.co.uk/ - Filmclassificationsite of BBFC
 http://www.madtuts.com/2010/02/85-famous-tv-movie-fonts/ - filmfontsforanalysis
 http://www.stonewashed.net/free-music.html - copyrightfreemusic
 http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/distribution/distribution1.html - introtofilm
distribution
 http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/index.html - excellentresource forBritishfilm
ESSENTIAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH SITES
http://www.bfi.org.uk/education-research/film-industry-statistics-research/reports/audiences
http://www.bfi.org.uk/film-industry/lottery-funding-distribution/insight-reports-case-studies-
audience-research