BTEC Creative digital media

Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

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BTEC L2 Creative Digital Media
Unit 2
Assignment 1
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Production Log

Week 1

 For this unit I am going to be planning a trailer for a new film that I have come
up with the ideas for
 This is my film idea:

Title The title of my film is called ‘UNDEAD’. It is going to be a

zombie horror film set in Brazil

Characters The main character that will be in my film is ‘Dave’.

Details about Dave wakes up from a coma in a hospital bed in Brazil. There
characters is no one around and everywhere is suspiciously quiet. Dave
walks around the hospital to find that the hospital is deserted
and that he has been locked in with no exits in sight. As the
sun goes down, David realises that he is not alone and that
the dead have risen as zombies and spots friends and family.
He has to fight for survival!

Target Audience The target audience for my film is going to be males aged
between 18-25 because it is going to be action packed with
lots of gory special effects.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

 The first piece of research was find out about the purpose of trailers
 Through my research I found out that the purpose of a trailer is to be part of
the marketing campaign for a film. This usually begins with the release of a
teaser poster which holds little information about the film, usually with just
the image and coming soon or the month of release. There are two types of
trailers which are teaser trailer and full trailer. There can be different versions
these days because of the internet and people using YouTube to find trailers.
The company can make different trailers so that the audience can view
different aspects of the film. The trailer is usually about 2 minutes long but a
teaser trailer is shorter. The purpose of the trailer is to show aspects of the
narrative, particularly the equilibrium and the disruption of the story so that
we can see the challenges that the heroes will face. The trailer will show the
unique selling points of the film, for example if there is a big star it will have
lots of close up shots of them or them in the storyline. If it is a special effects
films then it will show that. It also includes lots of information about how you
can find out more about the film including the website, twitter, youtube page,
and hashtags to use. The production company logo is featured because it
shows the company that made it and this can tell the audience if it is a big
money movie such as Fox or Universal. The release date is also important
because the company has to make sure that people go to see the film. The
opening weekend is the most important.
 The trailer needs to make sure that they audience know what the genre is so
that they can decide if they are interested or not. Not everyone wants to see a
horror film.
 The film trailer can be seen in lots of places. Even a year before the film
comes out the audience might see a teaser trailer at the cinema or online. This
might just show a very short clip which is what makes the audience want to
find out more and can create a buzz on social media like twitter. The full
trailer will be shown on television but if it is not suitable for children it will be
show after the watershed.
 The point about me making a trailer for my film is to inform the audience
about when my film is coming out and what my film is going to be about or
what they can expect. It will also show the audience that they will be
entertained by my film which is horror.
 Before I could produce my own ideas for a new trailer I had to find out about
the codes and conventions of trailers so I analysed the trailer for Transformers:
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

 I watched the trailer on YouTube and noted down the timeline for the trailer so
I know what goes into it. I saw that the production company logo is always at
the start, and I saw this in other trailers that I saw. There are lots of shots of
the main actor who is Mark Wahlberg and he is a big Hollywood actor so it’s
important as he will attract the audience to see the film.
 At first the trailer goes very slow at the start. Then the editing slowly gets
faster during the trailer which builds up the tension and shows lots of action
taking place. Also the trailer sound volume increases when special effects
appear. The film storyline is based on Transformers having a war between
Autobots and Decepticons. The main character is Mark Wahlberg. He lives on
a farm and bought a truck and then discovers it was a Transformer. The trailer
shows the problems that he is facing but it doesn’t show if he ever solves these
problems.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Week 2:

 The next thing I needed to do was carry out some research into my target
audience to find out what they would like to see in my trailer. I asked them six
closed questions and then made charts to show their responses which I can use
for my trailer ideas.

 The audience wants to see a lot of shots of the main characters so I will do
everything in my power to make the main character relevant all the time. The
audience are not interested in rhetorical questions so I will not include a lot.
The audience fairly like to see the release date so I will put the release date on
the cover of the film. The audience fairly like to see the production company
logo. The audience fairly like to see the director’s name then I will put it the
beginning of the film trailer.

 The audience like to see a lot of chase scenes so I will improve my scenes.
The audience will like to see a fair bit of scary themes so I will improve that in
my trailer. A large portion of the audience like to see special effects so I will
add some explosions etc. The audience isn’t interested in make up to I will not
add that in my trailer. The rest of the audience want to see a lot of fake blood
so I will include that in my trailer.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

 The audience manly want films to be released in Halloween and do not want
any film to be released in any other holidays. This is fairly typical for horror
films and what I expected.

 The majority of the audience want to see a lot of the release date so I will
include that a lot. The rest of the audience want to see the actor’s names so I
will put that in the beginning of my trailer. The audience doesn’t want me to
include the certificate rating or social networking.

 The majority of the audience like to see the trailer up to 2 minutes

BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

 The majority of the audience want me to include the director’s name. The
remaining doesn’t want to see the director’s name.

 The majority of the audience want to see me put a tagline in the trailer. The
remaining doesn’t want to see the tagline.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
Week 3:

 The next thing I needed to do was explore different ideas for the film trailer.
Below are the three ideas that I developed:

IDEA 1:

The trailer starts with the production company logo and the sound of a television
being switched on and people gathering around the television.
Then there’s a close up shot on the television and there’s a news reporter talking
about a zombie outbreak in Rio. The camera slowly zooms out as she is talking to
reveal the people sat around the television watching it. Then the camera quickly whip
pans to the left and shows zombies at the window. Then a black screen transition.
There’s lots of flashing lights and we see flashes of the zombies eating flesh and
running. There is just the diegetic sound effect of people screaming and flesh being
torn apart. Low anlge shots of zombies jumping across room tops and high angle
shots looking down at people trying to escape but getting caught. There are close up
shots of people turning into zombies after being bitten. Then tracking shots of people
running through the streets scavenging for food and we see the main characters just
trying to survive and escape. They try to get into a car but there’s a zombie in the
back seat. Fade to black transition and the intertitle says ‘There’s no escape’. There’s
a final flash of a zombie jumping at the screen then a black screen. The title comes up
and then the release date.

IDEA 2:
The production company logo is on the screen first and we hear the sound of a
hospital heart monitor beeping slowly as we see different establishing shots of the
empty hospital corridors. There’s fade to black in between each one and slow moving
camera shots. The camera slowly zooms down an empty corridor as the lights flicker
on and off. Just as the lights turn off a zombie enters and the screen is black so we just
hear the sound effect of his groaning. A black screen with the director’s name saying
‘from the creators of 28 Days Later’…
Then a high angle shot of a man lying in a hospital bed in a coma. We have different
shots of him as the heart monitors beeps louder and louder. Then it stops and we get a
black screen. The camera fades in a we slowly zoom into the door window and see
zombies gathered around the room which he is only one in it. Then it goes to a black
screen again saying the name of the film. Then we get a montage of shots of the man
scavenging for food and trying to survive against the zombies. There is a final shot of
the zombies feasting on a girl who died.
The release date and social media information.

IDEA 3:

Starts with the production company logo. The camera is down a long corridor and at
the end of the corridor we can see something but the lights are flickering. The camera
slowly moves forwards as we hear screams and flesh being torn apart. As the camera
gets closer zombies run past the camera and join the others. We get closer and look
over their shoulders and they’re eating someone. Then the camera tilts up and we look
into a hospital room and see a man in a coma in the bed. A long shot shows that the
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
room is a mess like people have run out. We can hear the heart monitor beeping. Then
the black screen with the film title and release date.

Week 3

 Then I needed to find out what my audience thought about my ideas so I

carried out some more audience research which was a focus group so I got
some people together in the Mac room and told them my ideas.
 I asked them what they thought about my ideas, which is the best one, and
what I can do to make it better.
 Fela really liked the third idea because it uses just one camera shot and edit so
it builds up the suspense.
 Sidney, Miguel, and Cody all liked idea two because it gave more information
about the film’s story and the intertitles gave more information
 They did not like my slogan so I will need to change it.
 They also liked that I included the release date and who the director is.
 They think that I should choose idea 2 but maybe include some of the slow
moveing shots from idea 3 too.
 They said I should have more editing transitions to make the trailer more
exciting.

Before I decided which idea to choose I did a SWOT analysis about the ideas:

IDEA STRENGTH WEAKNESS

1 Lots of action is shown and Needs lots of different locations
the TV news gives lots of and doesn’t really show mainly
information through what my film is about. It doesn’t
dialogue. Intertitles also show the main character really.
give information about the
film. Good use of sounds
and editing.
2 This idea is good because it I could be too long and show too
clearly shows the film much of the action which makes it
storyline and lots of action less suspenseful.
sequences. The transitions
are good to show the
excitement and hide some
of the gory bits.
3 It’s only one camera shot so Could be boring to watch if you see
it will be cheap and quick to it more than once. Could be good
film. Easier to edit. as a first teaser.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

I also have to think about the BBFC who regulates the film
industry and what will be allowed to be shown in my trailer.
Here’s what I researched and learnt.

What is the name of the regulatory body in the UK for film?

The name of the regulatory body in UK for film is the BBFC which is an acronym for
the British Board of Film Classification originally British Board of Film Censors, this
is a non-governmental company, funded by the film industry and responsible for the
censorship of films within the United Kingdom. The BBFC was established in 1912
by members of the film industry, who would rather manage their own censorship than
have national or local government do it for them. It began operating on 1 January
1913.

What are their key aims?

The BBFC aims to provide the highest standard of customer service at all times
Primary aims are to protect children and other vulnerable groups from harm through
legally enforceable classification decision

What issues do they deal with mostly when classifying a film?

There are a lot of issues to deal with while viewing a film, these things include
whether the material is in conflict with the law, or has been created through the
commission of a criminal offence

Also many themes are includes with the issues that go along while rating a film these
can be seen down below

• Sexual Violence
• Drugs
• Horror
• Imitable Behaviour
• Discrimination
• Language

What three things can they do to a film?

Cut
The decision to offer such ‘cuts for category’ is at the discretion of the BBFC and this
option is unlikely to be available if the required changes would be extensive or
complex, or if the effect of possible changes would be difficult to predict.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
Classify
The BBFC looks at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily
imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The
theme of the work is also an important consideration. We also consider context, the
tone and likely impact of a work on the potential audience

Ban
When the film includes something that displays illegal content such as killing animals
of such nature that’s when certain film have to be banned as this will spark
controversy

What are the different classifications that films can fit into?

PG

PG or Parental guidance is meaning that all ages admitted, but certain scenes may be
unsuitable for young children. This May contain mild language and sex/drugs
references films that are rated PG are ‘Wreck it Ralph’ & ‘Mirror Mirror’.

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for all audiences young
and old the only mild language they accept is ‘Damn’ and ‘Hell’ this films that are the
Universal category are Turbo & The Smurfs 2

12/12A

12 and 12A are almost exactly the same, however their only difference between them
is that only one is particularly used for cinema (12A). Films classified 12A is not
generally suitable for children under 12 years old. No one younger than 12 may see a
12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Some 12A films contain sexual
references. The Films that are labelled as 12A are The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
& Pacific Rim.

15

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15 rated
video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age. The films
that are classed as a 15 rated film are ‘The Heat’ and ‘Mama’

18

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the
cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.
 BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
There are a lot of sexual themes, nudity and drug taking involved in an 18 classified
film. The films that are labelled 18 by the BBFC because of various ‘Sin City’,
‘Se7en’ and lastly ‘Risky Business’

Video Nasties

The video nasties era simply is the term used for films being distributed into VCR
which grabbed the attention of many authoritative figures, religious societies and
other organisations because of the offensive content being displayed as a result this
led to the video recordings Act 1984 which eventually saw stricter use censorship on
videos, there are 72 banned titles overall and some include ‘The Last House On The
Left’, ‘Axe’, and lastly ‘SS Experiment Love Camp’.

The BBFC brought in the 12A Certificate because that particular rating is only for the
Cinema uses only, so that means if the youngster can watch this film IF being
accompanied by an adult that is 18 years and above, the problems that comes with the
12A rating is that many inappropriate themes are still being seen such as the use of
nudity, language, sex, and drugs so there are still being exposed at quite a young
innocent age.

From this research I will have to think about my audience and what is going to be suitable for
them
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Proposal

Trailer Outline

 Trailers going to start with the logo for the production company
 Then establishing shots of the hospital as a montage to show how empty it is.
All you can hear is a heart monitor. The lights are flickring on and off and
then you can see a zombie at the end of a long corridor. The screen goes black.
 Director name
 Then you can see a man in a hospital bed he is in a coma and there’s lots of
zombies crowded around a window looking into the room but it’s locked. The
room is quite messy too.
 Then there’s the man awake and he’s looking in the bins for food
 The zombies are shown doing zombie things like eating dead bodies
 The intertitle will say ‘Only the strong survive’
 Then there’s more shots of the zombies running down the corridor and the
man trying to survive.
 There will be close up shots of the man because he is the hero that we want to
live.
 The end will show the release date and social media information

Audience

The audience is going to be 18-25 years old men who like horror films. They might
have seen some other horror films so they will like my one. They are probably in
college or university so will not have much money so I won’t make my trailer 3D or
IMAX.

Regulation

My trailer will be shown on television and in the cinema so it will have to have a
certificate from the BBFC which I want them to make my trailer a 15 so it can be seen
in cinemas before 15 certificates so I will get a bigger audience to see my film as 18
and overs go to see 15 films. I have to make sure my trailer meets the standards for 15
for violence and blodd and gory stuff.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

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BTEC L2 Creative Digital Media
Unit 2
Assignment 3
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Week 1:

 Now I have developed my ideas I can start planning my project. I started by

creating the storyboard for my trailer so that I would know what I needed to
film.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
Week 5:
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Week 2:

This week I have made the schedule for my project so that everyone will know what
they have to do and when. I want to film and edit in one week.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Week 3:

This week I carried out a recce and risk assessment for my locations:
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Week 4:
This week I made the equipment list of things I need and the personnel I need.

Media Equipment Source Image of equipment.

Required
Sony video camera Media department

Tripod Media department

Lighting Media department

Adobe final cut Media department

BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product

Prop/Costume/Make Up Source (where will Image of item

you get it from?)
Hospital garment
This image of a
hospital garment
that I found for my
film is from
google.com.

This a photo of
Fake blood fake blood for my
film that I found
on google.com.

This a photo of
Hospital beds hospital bed for
my film is for my
film that I found
on google.com.

Prosthetic make up This a photo of

Prosthetic make
up for my film is
for my film that I
found on
google.com.
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BUDGET COSTS

Nikon D90 camera: £500

Tripod: £20
Lighting: £239
Costumes: £20
Make Up: £30
Make up artist: £5 an hour
Travel: free for students

Most equipment will be borrowed from the media department.

BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
BTEC Creative digital media
Unit 2: planning and pitching a media product
Week 5:

This is my final week so I have made sure that the equipment is booked and that I
have permission from my actors to film.

I also made some contingency plans:

1. If I cannot access a hospital room that isn’t being used then I will have to set
up a studio set instead. I will have to book the drama pod and see what
equipment they have that I can use. I have already checked that they have
bedding and sheets so I will have to search on ebay for hospital equipment to
use.
2. I will update my schedule if actors or crew are sick and can’t attend
3. When we are filming we have to check the footage as we go along so that we
make sure it’s all there and light is good.
4. Do not delete the footage from the camera until the project is over and make
copies on scratch disks.