Synergy - A2 Evaluations

So what is synergy?

Synergy means 'working together' and occurs when two or more things combine to produce a result that would not be possible if they were working independently of one another.

In the film industry, the marketing people aim to create synergy by creating a trailer that works with the poster that works with the website that works with the radio advertisement that works with the TV spot that works with the magazine article that works with the merchandise...and so on.

Synergy helps to establish a brand identity that you, the consumer, immediately recognise. All of these synergistic elements help to raise your awareness of the film and increase the likelihood of you going to see it.

In your evaluation, you need to comment on how effectively you think your main task and ancillary tasks create a brand identity. What is that brand identity and how is it achieved? (e.g. there may be a similarity in images and fonts used for lettering) Do your poster and trailer/short film try to make you aware of any other ways that you might learn more about the film? (e.g. a website) How successful do you think the combination of the poster and trailer is? Would they make you go to see the film? Why?  Does your front cover/review use stylistic synergy that is shared with your other products?  What content does your review contain that demonstrates synergy with your other products?

Media word bank

Media Word Bank

Camerawork

establishing shot, master shot, close-up, big close-up, extreme close-up

medium shot (mid-shot), long shot, extreme long shot, wide shot, two-shot, aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot

high angle, low angle, canted angle

pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, hand-held, steadicam, zoom, reverse zoom, push-in, pull-out

frame, depth of field, focus, shallow focus, deep focus, focus pull

Editing

continuity, non-continuous, montage, cut, shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, cross-cutting, parallel editing, cutaway, insert, text/graphic

transition, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, accelerated motion, ellipsis, expansion of time, post-production, visual effects, computer generated imagery

Sound

diegetic, non-diegetic, synchronous/asynchronous sound, sound effects, sound motif,

sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing,

sound perspective, clean/dirty sound

Mise-en-scene

location, studio set, design, costume, make-up properties (props)

http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms4.html

http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/teaching_backgrounders/media_literacy/glossary_media_literacy.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd2YUPGovQw&feature=plcp&context=C4390119VDvjVQa1PpcFPjeVxnTszOlVuNLypuRIerdPy5kR_0WPM=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nljErrYRQ8E&feature=plcp&context=C44caea4VDvjVQa1PpcFPjeVxnTszOlUi1C6ZTJ4aE4R0aOeBOnwc=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z68dMBAAn-k&feature=plcp&context=C46ce2f6VDvjVQa1PpcFPjeVxnTszOlWTaurCBs8f-w5K3dc_IPMY=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe2PqbUk0bU&feature=plcp&context=C4927094VDvjVQa1PpcFPjeVxnTszOlRAyEf3NHhgI_wxy0rmj9D8=

http://www.empireonline.com/features/film-studies-101-camera-shots-styles/
http://www.filmeducation.org/pdf/resources/secondary/Sequence_Analysis_key_terms.pdf

Media in the Online Age - TV

http://cathalsonlinetvblog.blogspot.com/

This blog has some really good posts on the relationship between television and the Internet.

Labels - AS foundation Portfolio

You need to organise your blog posts into titles and labels for the moderator to mark easily.  Here are some ideas for titles and labels.  It will get too complicated if you use all of the research and planning ones as labels, so use them as titles and have just four overall R&P labels: "Research into Similar Products", "Research into Audience", "Research into Similar Products", and "Planning".  I have "starred" (*) labels and put them in bold in the list below:

• Roles*
• Preliminary Task*
• Preliminary Task - initial ideas
• Preliminary Task - pitch
• Preliminary Task - script
• Preliminary Task - storyboard
• Preliminary Task - film
• Preliminary Task - audience feedback on the pitch
• Preliminary Task - audience feedback on the film
• Preliminary Task - self assessment
• Main task*
• Research into audience*
• Audience feedback
• Target audience
• Research into similar products*
• Research into camerawork
• Research into similar films
• Research into titles
• Research into distributors
• Planning*
• Planning - initial ideas
• Planning - time management
• Planning - pitch
• Planning - storyboard
• Planning - script
• Planning - shotlist
• Planning - shot schedule
• Planning - props
• Planning - costume and makeup
• Planning - risk assessment
• Planning - budget
• Planning - equipment
• Planning - location shots
• Planning - call sheet
• Planning - title order
• Construction* 
• Technology*
• Skills development/progress*
• Editing/post-production
• Evaluation*

Please note:

Roles is a post where you explain your responsibilities in the group.

Everything that you do for the preliminary task goes under one label: Preliminary Task.

Main task contains one post, your final film.

Construction contains posts relating to the filming of your opening, such as a 'making of' video.

Technology contains posts relating to technology that you used in planning, research, construction, post-production and evaluation.

Skills development/progress is a record of the skills you have acquired during the process of planning and making your media product.

A2 Examination - Q1(b): Genre - useful reading

http://www.screenplayology.com/content-sections/paths-problems-in-screenplay-studies/2-4/
This essay is useful for considering the relationship between plot and genre and gives some examples drawn from Westerns.

http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html
This essay gives a very useful overview of genre theories and provides links to further reading.

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevel.php?pageID=filmgenre
Sub-genres and hybrids are simply explained in this one.

A2 Advanced Portfolio - Another example of an annotated front cover

http://www.scribd.com/doc/54389286/Poster-and-Magazine-Cover-Analysis-2

This isn't an amazing analysis, but it gives a few pointers as to how to annotate a text.

Advanced Portfolio - Print Key Terms

http://www.journalism.co.uk/terms-definitions-dictionary-terminology-words/s54/