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APRIL 2014: PRODUCTION edia agazine Menglish and media centre issue 48M | april 2014 What a film producer really does Seven steps to good production work Hacking: the story so far The ultimate how-to guide to making trailers Researching for production Vertov: the man with a movie camera MM MM48_covers.indd 1 26/03/2014 18:14 MM This magazine is not to be photocopied. Why not subscribe to our web package which includes a downloadable and printable PDF of the current issue or encourage your students to take out their own £12 subscription? This is the last MediaMag of this academic year, so by the time it MediaMagazine is published by the arrives, you may already be well stuck into revision and exam practice. English and Media Don’t let that put you off this issue, though – plenty to feed into your Centre, a non-profit preparation, either for the forthcoming exams, or insights into next making organisation. year’s coursework for those moving on into A2. The Centre publishes a The theme is Production, so read and learn from the experience of wide range of classroom successful students who have already been through it, and teachers and professionals who know materials and runs courses for teachers. If from years of experience what works and what doesn’t. Amongst our highlights this issue are Pete you’re studying English Fraser’s Seven Steps to Successful Production Work – a topic he wrote about in the very first ever at A Level, look out MediaMag. Twelve years and 47 issues ago, he listed fifty tips, so he’s got the guidance down to a for emagazine, also fine art by now – as you should know from his fantastic Pete’s MediaMag Blog, on the MM home published by the Centre. page (and if you haven’t been following it, now is the time to start!) The English and Media Centre Another highlight is Michelle Eastwood’s fantastic analysis of what a film producer actually does, 18 Compton Terrace London N1 2UN with a really detailed and insightful case study of her first feature film In Our Name, budget and all. Telephone: 020 7359 8080 Ian Wall gives some hard-hitting advice on film trailer analysis and production, and Caroline Birks Fax: 020 7354 0133 talks you through the process of analysing a magazine front cover in preparation for your print Email for subscription enquiries: production coursework – a timely reminder that media production without critical analysis of the [email protected] genre you’re working in is likely to limit your chances of a high grade. Editor: Jenny Grahame Production and ideology is a theme linking other articles ideal for students preparing for FS4 – Subscriptions manager: Emma Marron particularly two complementary pieces on the polemical cinema of Dziga Vertov and his Man with a Movie Camera and Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will – propaganda, observational Design: Sparkloop Print: S&G Group documentary or monstrous deification? Plus transmedia storytelling, the role of BAFTA in Cover: Gutpunch, Escape Films, supporting young producers, and a guide to choosing the right sort of university course for produced by Michelle Eastwood aspiring filmmakers. And as a special bonus, an excellent summary of the production of a national ISSN: 1478-8616 scandal – where we’ve got to in the phone-hacking debate. Essential revision reading if regulation, media and democracy, the future of the newspaper industry or media ethics are topics on your specification. Good luck to one and all – and hope to see you again in September! A taster of MediaMag treats for September: In print: TV drama: Line of Duty, TV ‘s Greatest Serial Killers, Girls Film Studies: reading openings: Apocalypse Now; documentary and Night Mail; FM4, Emotional Response and Representations of Reality Media and Identities for the new AQA exam topic The evolution of Gaming: Tomb Raider and The Last of Us 2014 MediaMag Production Competition: the winners revealed! Online: Highlights of the 2013 MediaMag Conference Shortlisted entries and winners of the 2014 Production competition And in December: Special feature: Science Fiction It’s Alive … 2 MediaMagazine | April 2014 | english and media centre MM contents 26 A shepherd in search 49 of sheep: what a film producer really does... One of the least understood roles in the film industry – but also one The Front Page of the most powerful, creative and rewarding, says producer On the set of Far From the 04 The latest media news and Michelle Eastwood. Madding Crowd views. What’s it like on the set of a major adaptation of a literary classic Seven steps to good 30 directed by one of cinema’s great 06 rebels? production work Pete Fraser, author of Pete’s MediaMag Blog, is the go-to Adventures in film: expert on the essential steps to 52 my first short successful production work – and Art vs commerce: the Student Leah Gouget-Levy won a he’s got them down to a mere independent’s battle commission to make her first ever seven! Nick Lacey considers the troubled short fiction film, a story about a relationship between artistic Bird-God, shot in the Peak District. integrity and profit. 09 Now she shares what she learned. 34 55 ThisisDA – ‘Gridlock’ music video It starts with what you Rapper David Aidoo discusses know: preparing for producing his own music video production for his own new album. It starts with what you know, suggests Steph Hendry, who Vertov: the man with a summarises the essential research A degree in film? So what and preparation for the AQA movie camera 57 course will you choose? Mark Ramey explores the Media Studies coursework tasks. Jonny Persey is Chief Executive theory behind an iconic film Officer of the Met Film School. which celebrates the subversive Here he suggests some of the potential of filmmaking and a 14 really important questions to ask cinema driven by politics rather if you are considering a degree in than profit. filmmaking. Analysis for production: Making Hitler? Producing how to analyse a music 37 Triumph of the Will 60 magazine for your AS Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 movie is coursework one of the most contentious films Caroline Birks talks you through of all time, says Jonathan Nunns. the creation of a music magazine Propaganda or observational for your AS coursework, and documentary? Radical critique or stresses the importance of getting creation of a dark myth? Where reality meets make- to know the product you’re believe: a fan’s story producing through thorough Few heroes have won the global textual analysis. Cartoon by Goom 40 popularity and respect of Sherlock Holmes – and the current BBC The ultimate how-to guide Clockwork Watch: incarnation of Sherlock has 42 acquired cult status and a huge 18 experiments in transmedia to making trailers Ian Wall, director of The Film production fan following. Self-confessed Space, identifies the key processes We’re seeing the development fan Ruth Kenyon shares some involved in creating a movie trailer of a new and immersive form unforgettable moments. that really works. of story-telling, spanning numerous platforms, formats and BAFTA technologies, all adding layers to 64 Known primarily for its iconic Indie producers, indie the same story. Alice Grahame 23 Awards, its mysterious masked marketing – how cult video investigates. games sell big trophy, and its annual pre-Oscar It’s a gigantic $80 billion-a-year red carpets, there’s a lot more to industry, bigger than Hollywood Hacking: the story so far BAFTA than meets the eye, as 44 Previously in hacking news … Simon Bubb finds out. and Bollywood together – so can there really be any place for small- Harry Cunningham updates us on scale indie game producers? the press reporting of its very own scandal in a story which seems never-ending. english and media centre | April 2014 | MediaMagazine 3 MMThe Front Page Film’s Cool: Change One Thing Film’s Cool is a mentoring initiative that brings high-profile film industry professionals into schools and organisations to provide expert guidance and support to young people as part of courses often tailored to exam specifications. Mentor and filmmaker Alek Lewin explains his role in a fantastic production project As a young filmmaker it is becoming increasingly difficult to set yourself apart the process of documentary production, Overall, I believe initiatives such as the from the crowd and assert yourself in an whether planning for interviews and one set up by Film’s Cool is vital to the undeniably talented and ever growing voiceovers, camera operation or rush discovery of talented filmmakers. It gives cohort. Finding hands-on experience edits of the footage from the previous many students who would otherwise is crucial to any CV and on my hunt week. They were always keen to learn, not have the chance to do so, the for such an opportunity, I found an and wouldn’t hold back when asking for opportunity to have a deep look inside organisation that really stood out from feedback on how they were getting on. the craft. Furthermore, on a personal level this project was particularly exciting the crowd and grabbed my attention; It wasn’t all hard work though: Film’s for me as an aspiring filmmaker, offering Film’s Cool is a mentoring initiative, Cool projects are run in an a way me the practical experience of teaching which utilises industry professionals to which engages the students on a camera and editing skills to students teach young people valuable filmmaking personal level, developing interpersonal whilst also learning how to improve the techniques to tell stories and find a voice.