The sound design of Captain America: Civil War

Sound design is often one of the most important, but ignored, aspects of micro elements in filmmaking. 

This video gives viewers an insight into how the sound design of Captain America: Civil War was designed and what the sound designers wanted to achieve. 

This is a great resource for GCSE Film students looking for revision for Paper 1 or anyone with an interest in filmmaking. 

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/05/what-does-superhero-civil-war-sound-sound-design-captain-america

Brilliant example of foley sound

http://www.empireonline.com/features/cinema-sound-secrets-foley-artist/

The Business of Film Podcasts

These podcasts narrated by the brilliant Mark Kermode,  are an incredibly useful tool for AS Film Studies, as well as the Industry Analysis section of GCSE Film Studies controlled conditions work.

The link to the series is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/businessoffilm but I've also embedded them below for you to listen to.

Each episode is only around 30 mins in total and will be a really useful insight into the film industry. Some of the language can be really specific and assume that the listener already knows a lot about film, but these are a really enjoyable and informative listen and are highly recommended.


Episode 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1xc97h0bqw1uhb/businessoffilm%20ep1.mp3?dl=0
Episode 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5zzx1v9j3joj0s/businessoffilm%20ep2.mp3?dl=0
Episode 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnlhzagv03pp382/businessoffilm%20ep3.mp3?dl=0

Invaluable resource for AS Film Studies FM2

http://stephenfollows.com/

I was recently told about this blog and it's quite, quite brilliant. It's well worth bookmarking and worth paying regular attention to; we'll certainly be doing so in lessons and in homework over the coming months. 

Aspect Ratios - Why are different films different 'shapes' and 'sizes'?

After a question in class today, I thought this video might be of use to people wondering why it is that when we see films there are often 'borders' on the screen or why films often look like different shapes or sizes.

This video is really informative and covers lots of brilliant examples, and is well worth ten minutes or so of your time.

   
          

AS Film Studies Revision

Remember-if there is something you're not sure on or need help with, leave a comment and I'll get back to you asap. 

AS Film Studies Fm2 section a revision pdf from Ian Moreno-Melgar

The Art of writing a script that makes money...

An interesting little video on the BBC website about how one company in America analyses the contents of scripts, views the themes in the film and then decides if the film will make money based on past trends to help inform people who invest in films whether it's worth making the scripts that are available to buy. It's a horrible way of looking at film, given that it's an art form, but there is clearly a set of reasons why some films perform better than others and some of these are explained in this short video, linked below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25632386

GCSE Paper 1 Practice: Superhero films

Below you will find copies of the Practice Exam Paper that we looked at in class.

The clip you need for questions 1 and 2 can be found on the link above the exam paper.
Remember: you can only watch it 3 times when answering questions 1 and 2 and when answering, you CANNOT watch the clip. Obviously, I can't control that here, but it's excellent practice for the exam to follow these instructions.

There is also a resource for Question 3 to be used as well.

Film Extract for questions 1 and 2

How NOT to make a film: The curious case of World War Z

Below is a link a fantastic article by Vanity Fair on Zombie-apocolypse film World War Z which is just about to be released in the UK. Based on a book of the same name, this $200million Blockbuster was originally to be released 6 months ago and despite Brad Pitt starring and producing, seems to be headed for an uncertian performance at the Box Office. Vanity Fair recently published the story of how the rights to adapt such a highly regarded book (Simon Pegg said that it's "An absolute must have ... Brooks [the author] infuses his writing with such precise detail and authenticity, one wonders if he knows something we don't') into a film went so wrong and so quickly.


There is some wonderful insight here and would be a great case study and example for AS Students studying Hollywood, the film industry and the pre and post-production issues that can beset a film.


This is well worth a few minutes of your time and worth bookmarking for later use.

Vanity Fair: The Making of World War Z

GCSE Paper 1 Revision

This is the exam paper explanation guide for Paper 1.
Paper 1, as I'm sure you know, is the exam paper on Superhero films, is 1 and a half hours long and will be on June 19th.


                             

The second exam paper explanation for Paper 2, the exam on Tsotsi, can be found here: Tsotsi Revision
REMEMBER: this exam is on the 25th June, so ignore any dates on that PowerPoint as they may be out of date. 

Louis Leterrier interview reveals lack of control over films he directed.

The director of The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans, Louis Leterrier, is currently promoting his promising looking new film Now You See Me.


            

In an interesting interview on Huffington Post, Leterrier reveals how he wanted to cast Mark Ruffalo in The Incredible Hulk, as opposed to Edward Norton who was apparently cast at the demands of the studio, Marvel.
He also explains about his lack of control over Clash of the Titans, and criticises the poor use of 3D on the film.

Have a read via the link below to get an interesting insight into the control that a Director has and the way in which large studios operate.

Leterrier interview, via the Huffington Post.

A2 Revision: FM4, Spectatorship

A PowerPoint that collates a range of key ideas for the FM4 Spectatorhship area of A2 Film Studies. There may be some formatting issues with the presentation as it was created using Keynote and there are often compatibility issues.

The future of release paths? A Field in England

Ben Wheatley's latest film, A Film in England, is to receive a unique, multi-platform release from Film4.0, their first feature release.

More details can be found here:

Live for Films.com report

Shot Sizes and Angles

A quick overview on the different shot sizes and angles for camera work. A useful video we used in Media Studies for people looking to make their own films:



This PowerPoint from SlideShare has some good explanations and also includes more definitions about movements:

Shots

Finally, this website has some excellent examples and good set of explanations. http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/

Camera Movements

Bit of revision on camera movements after the lesson today where we discussed these in relation to the exam paper from 2011. This first video is designed for people making films but has some very good explanations and excellent examples to reinforce the movements being shown. Please note: this video is American in origin and so may use slightly different terms (such as a trucking movement, which we would call a tracking movement).
 This second video is used for Media Studies and again designed for people who are looking to make films but has some very easy to understand explanations for camera movements:
 Finally, here are a couple of guides from SlideShare:

camera movements

View more PowerPoint from guidedbyboognish

Camera Movement

View more PowerPoint from Tom Whittaker