1. G321 FOUNDATION
PORTFOLIO
REEPHAM COLLEGE MEDIA STUDIES : SEPTEMBER 2012-DECEMBER 2012
Brief for
Video
Production:
THE OPENING
SEQUENCE OF A
NEW THRILLER
FILM (INCLUDING
TITLES AND
SOUND) TO A
MAXIMUM OF TWO
MINUTES.
All video and audio Health Warning:
• We will be monitoring all written and practical components.
material must be • Students are marked individually for written work.
original, produced by • Any student not contributing adequately to planning, shooting
and editing their production will have marks deducted.
the candidate(s), • Irregular attendance will also be penalised in the assessment
with the exception of process.
• If students come across problems with deadlines they must
music or sound seek support immediately.
effects from a • If there are problems within a group please seek tutor advice
without delay so that problems can be quickly solved. These
copyright-free matters can be discussed with me in confidence.
source. • If students fail to complete the written and practical
components to an acceptable A Level standard, it is likely their
TOTAL MARKS AVAILABLE = 100 examination entry will be reviewed.
50% OF FINAL AS GRADE • If students do not pass this coursework unit, it is unlikely
that they will pass AS Level Media Studies.
continued on page 2
RESEARCH AND PLANNING: 20 marks CONSTRUCTION: 60 marks EVALUATION: 20 MARKS
• Research into the thriller genre. • Short continuity editing task. • “Director’s Commentary”.
• Research into audience consumption of • Maximum of 2 minutes of edited moving • A response to 7 compulsory questions
films. image footage (including sound and titles). about research, planning and evaluating
your thriller opening.
• All pre-production materials.

2. Important advice
•••
•Keep to deadlines. If there are problems inform me immediately. Persistent
problems with meeting deadlines can result in students being asked to leave
the course. Parents and the Sixth Form Management Team are informed if
students do not keep up with their work.
•Marks are deducted pro rata if students let down in their group during the
planning, shooting and editing process. Marks are awarded for quality and
individual commitment to the project.
•Research and planning is individually marked. ALL students must post all
elements of planning onto their blogs.
•Avoid chopping and changing ideas.
• Keep ideas simple, plausible and possible.
• Avoid over ambitious/far fetched over complicated plots and reliance on
dialogue. Particularly avoid plots which represent characters and action
which are unfamiliar to you.
•Remember you are shooting the OPENING to a thriller film thus you will want
to hook the audience, you are NOT shooting a whole story nor are you
shooting a trailer.
THE SOUND TRACK – a vital component of mise en scène.
•The musical soundtrack is a vital part of the production; it sets the
atmosphere and may connote aspects of a particular character and place.
Once the narrative is storyboarded and all elements of mise-en-scène are
planned (characters, locations and costumes) begin to research appropriate
music for your soundtrack.
Students may do the following:
•It is an OCR requirement that any soundtrack must be copyright free. It
must therefore be over 50 years old, released under a Creative Commons
license or written by yourself, therefore research is a timely business. Useful
websites include mobygratis.com, ccmixter.org and freesound.org (for sound
effects). All require free accounts. For more complete songs, try
www.freeplaymusic.com .
Students can also use jazz, classical music or any popular music written before
1959-1960.
•Students may compose their own soundtrack.
Students may wish to use music from unsigned artists (email artists and ask
permission first though).

3. Definition of a thriller film
SOME CLASSIC THRILLERS
Thriller and Suspense Films
Are types of films known to
promote intense excitement, Marion Crane in the
suspense, a high level of shower (Psycho ,
anticipation, ultra-heightened Hitchcock 1960)
expectation, uncertainty,
anxiety, and nerve-wracking
tension, menace/danger. If the
genre is to be defined strictly, a
genuine thriller is a film that
restlessly pursues a single-
minded goal - to provide thrills
and keep the audience cliff-
hanging at the 'edge of their
seats' as the plot builds towards
a climax.
The tension usually arises when
the main character(s) is placed
in a menacing situation or Hit men Vince and Jules
mystery, or an escape or (Pulp Fiction, Tarantino,
dangerous mission from which 1994)
escape seems impossible. Life
itself is threatened, usually
because the principal character
characters with dark pasts, Generic locations in Thriller
is unsuspecting or unknowingly
psychotic individuals, terrorists, films: Dimly lit often wet narrow
involved in a dangerous or
cops and escaped cons, hit men/ urban streets or alleyways, lifts,
potentially deadly situation.
women, fugitives, private eyes, staircases, basements, large
Plots of thrillers involve
drifters, duplicitous individuals, featureless exteriors (reflecting
characters which come into
people involved in twisted moral vacuum of central
conflict with each other or with
relationships, world-weary men characters No Country for Old
outside forces - the menace is
and women, femme fatales Men), shower cubicles, toilets,
sometimes abstract or shadowy.
(dangerous and or deviant phone booths, bank safes,
women), psycho-fiends, drug interior of cars, top of a
Generic Characters in Thriller addicts, and more. The themes of skyscraper, shores with tide
films: Characters in thrillers thrillers frequently include coming in or muddy river banks/
include convicts, criminals, greed, envy, jealousy, terrorism, canals, scrap yards, derelict
stalkers, assassins, down-on- political conspiracy, pursuit, or factories, tunnels, and many
their-luck losers, innocent romantic triangles leading to more.
victims (often on the run), murder.
prison inmates, menaced women,
MORE CLASSIC THRILLERS
“The purpose of a
thriller is to put
their (audiences’)
toe in the cold
water of fear to see
Post war racketeer Harry Lime Gilda, classic femme fatale (Gilda, what it's like."
trapped in the Viennese sewers Charles Vidor (1946) Hitchcock.
(The Third Man, Carol Reed,
1949)

4. Planning: Opening to a thriller feature film
Deadline - Friday 26th October 2012
•••
Please note that understanding aspects of the thriller genre, and individual
research into thriller films (lead by Mr Stiles) should be reflected in all aspects of
planning. Each student’s blog should include the following:
1. Brain storming details of initial-to-final ideas.
2. A brief synopsis of the plot. No more than 100 words.
3. Story boards that are readable and contain image, colour, camera positions/shot types,
any dialogue and soundtrack.
4. Planning edit: For higher marks students should include details of transitions from one
shot to the other so that editing is planned. For example jump cut to…, or fade to black…,
or cross dissolve etc.
5. Locations: Annotated photographs/sketches of locations are important. Decisions need to
be justified and relate to genre conventions, if students challenge the thriller generic blue
print then they need to explain this.
6. Costumes, props and objects: All ideas should be annotated.
7. Characters: Brief background details of the nature of the characters are important.
Characters can have names that may give a clue to their personalities or their fate.
8. Casting of characters – brief explanations of casting decisions. Some student hold
auditions for roles and include pics or notes related to auditions. Avoid casting 6th
formers who are meant to be hardened gangsters otherwise the film will be
unconvincing. Casting should be discussed with course tutors. You cannot take
anyone out of lessons.
9. Soundtrack: Ideas for soundtrack which must be evaluated. Explain purpose of final
choice and likely influence on atmosphere within mise-en-scène. Students can upload ideas
for soundtrack onto their blogs.
10.Equipment list: Digital camera (students must include name of camera), tripod, lights,
microphones, filters for camera etc. Details of any special effects.
11.Shooting schedule: Organisation of time (dates when going to shoot), to include locations
and names of actors required, and props.
12.Evidence of the individual contribution to the planning and individual responsibilities
during the shoot and edit.
13.Some of you may wish to produce an ANIMATIC STORYBOARD (see WEB or STL for
further info).
Inter textual references: Student’s ideas need to be explained, 1) Reasons for choice of
ideas. 2) Source of ideas with explicit or implicit references to thrillers you have
researched. This could be through location, costume, character, action, shot type,
soundtrack. This is HIGHLY IMPORTANT.
Important: Identify the type of thriller being planned. Example: A psychological thriller like
‘Sixth Sense’; gangster thriller ‘Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’, ‘Essex Boys’; Mafia
thriller ‘The Godfather’; comic thriller ‘Snatch’; or incorporating elements of a futuristic/
action thriller, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘The Matrix’; film noir thriller such as ‘LA Confidential’, ‘Jackie
Brown’.

5. Construction: The Shoot
Deadline - Friday 16th November 2012
•••
• Lending Policy (cameras) To borrow a school camera or other school equipment students
MUST BOOK AT LEAST ONE DAY IN ADVANCE THROUGH MRS OSBORNE IN THE
SCHOOL LIBRARY .
• Responsibility with borrowed equipment: Students must check the camera in with Mrs
Osborne every two days if you need it for a longer period than this. Students who flout these
rules will be denied access to school equipment on future occasions. Students will be
charged for any equipment which is damaged or lost.
• Students must inform course work tutor prior to going out on location to shoot their
films.
• Equipment available includes: camcorders, stills cameras, tripods and dolleys
• If you return equipment late you will lose ONE mark per day per person from your final
coursework grade.
• Using time effectively: Students will be given media lesson time to shoot and edit their
films. During the shoot and edit students can only use the practical lessons for construction.
No other media or other subject lessons are allowed for the shoot and edit. Students will also
be expected to use free periods and after school.
Guidelines for shooting film.
• Shooting the action: Students are strongly advised to:
• take multiple shots of the same action so the most effective shots can be selected for
the final cut
• hold shots steady where appropriate
• frame shots carefully including and excluding elements as appropriate
• shoot material that is appropriate to an opening to a thriller film.
• use a variety of shot distances appropriately
• carefully select mise-en-scène, thinking about colour, figure, lighting, objects and
setting.
• Camera angles: Students are advised to use an appropriate variety of camera angles and
movement, in order to add to the appeal of the film.
• Close up shots: Students are often reluctant to use close ups, but these shot types are most
effective in drawing your audience into the action.
• Lighting: Some student productions are too dark and are thus unreadable. Though you may
wish to achieve noir lighting effect make sure the action is decipherable, professional
directors use non ambient lighting to achieve noir or chiaroscuro effects. Therefore make
sure that your action is well lit; when looking at the rushes/raw footage and the lighting is
too dark then students must re shoot the clip.
• Revisions to original ideas: If students shoot action which is different from the original
planning (story boards, character etc), any revisions can be briefly redrafted and explained
on the blog.
• Raw Footage: Students should have at least 9-10 minutes of raw footage to allow for cutting
during the edit.
• Do not put health and safety at risk, do not use pretend weapons in public.

6. Construction: The Edit
Deadline - Friday 7th December 2012
• Always check with course work tutors that your allotted computer is available.
• Each group is allotted a computer for the edit. ALWAYS USE THE SAME COMPUTER.
•Downloading raw footage: Once the shoot is complete you need to download the footage
from the camera onto your allocated computer using a firewire cable to link the camera to
the computer.In Final Cut/iMovie click the ‘capture’ button at the top of the screen. This will
load up a window which will help you to control what video and audio you upload from your
camera onto the computer. It is wise to download no more than about 8-10 minutes of your
best footage, which then has to be edited to approximately 2 minutes of film. Further
technical information on editing will be given to you on a separate sheet.
•Selecting what shots to keep: Once students have raw footage, make an editing list of what
shots you want to keep and where in the narrative your selected shots are appropriate.
•Soundtrack: When students have chosen the sound track it must be downloaded and saved
on your computer.
•Using post production time effectively: Editing can be done in course tutor media studies
lessons, during free periods and after school.
•Titles: Titles should be included immediately the narrative begins.
•If students wish to work independently and use their own editing software make sure it is
compatible with the school computer system by checking with the Ms Webb or Mr Stiles.
Important guidelines:
• Edit so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• Use varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately, for example jump
cuts, cross dissolve, fade to black, slow motion etc.
• Use sound with images, and titles appropriately.
A note on the EVALUATION
• Your evaluation will be lead and instructed by Mr Stiles with a 2 week deadline once the
editing is completed.
• It will take the form of a director’s commentary - a voice-over that answers the 7
compulsory questions (including a Q&A with the director).