Lesson Overviews

 6/10/11- Classification

  This lesson, we looked at the features of the two possible classifications for our film: U and PG. After comparing the features, we watched clips from four children's films (Up, Watership Down, Home Alone and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) and tried to guess which of the two classifications each film was rated. Most of them were simple to guess, the exception being Watership Down, which was rated U, which was surprising for the amount of violence in it. 

Watership Down - rated a U!

   Classifications are given by the British Board  of Film Classification (BBFC), whose website we visited to establish the features of U and PG. We were assigned U, and our findings are featured on a separate post. This is the link to the U classification page and this is the PG section.

   It is important for film makers to have a target market when they make a film. Target market is the group of people whom the film is aimed at (in our case, children and families). It is important for film makers to follow the classification requirements carefully in order to create a film that will be rated appropriately for their target market.

   After considering both options, we have decided to create a film that is classed PG. We have decided this as it gives us more freedom about what we include in it. If we had chosen U, we would be much more limited in our choices, and we would like to open our options as much as possible.    

10/10/11- Storyboarding

   This lesson, we storyboarded the opening scene from Back to the Future (Storyboard posted earlier). Tom and I created a diagram of the entire room featured and drew arrows to show how each section of our storyboard related to the location in the room.

   In commercial film-making, storyboards are used for very much the same purpose, meaning the company will minimise shooting time, therefore decreasing the production cost significantly. Creating a storyboard before the final product will also enable film makers to edit their ideas at a much earlier stage: it's a lot easier to re-draw a couple of images than re-film an entire scene if the director feels the framing should be different.

   It is important to create a storyboard for our children's film, as it will give us an idea about what exactly we will film, and how many shots we will need, therefore decreasing time spent filming and give us more time to edit and make the film look professional. It will also help us visualise how the finished film will look.