Homework set 12/10/11

The task of drawing the storyboard for the film Back To The Future will help us with our children’s film coursework planning and give us the skills we need to draw an effective storyboard. Firstly, we were taught the basics of how to draw a storyboard, such as how arrows represented direction, flow, and camera movement. We then watched the opening title sequence for the film Back To The Future and using our knowledge, draw a storyboard for the sequence. We had to include camera directions, shot types and details of the soundtrack. This task will help us in the planning for our children’s film coursework as we now have the knowledge of how to draw a storyboard, and how to gather enough information from a video clip to draw a storyboard from it.

Another task that we did to help us with our children’s film coursework was relating to classification ratings and the BBFC. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) determine what the rating of a film will be, either U, PG, 12, 12A, 15 or 18. These ratings are in place to give people an idea of the films content. For example, a film rated 18 is more likely to show scenes of violence that would only be appropriate for viewers over 18 years old. In the task, we were separated into groups and asked to research the guidelines of a film rated either U or PG. My group researched the criteria for a PG rated film. We discovered that films rated PG could be seen by “Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children” (from the BBFC website). This task will help us in the planning and filming of our children’s film task, as we now know what content we are able to feature in our opening sequence.

An example of a children’s film opening sequence that we can use as inspiration for our own coursework is Toy Story. In the opening titles for this film, a child is shown playing with toys in his bedroom, and acting out scenes with them. As objects are moved around his room, titles appear behind or next to them. For example, the child moves a cardboard box that reveals the “a Pixar production” title behind it. This opening sequence can be used as a point of reference for our film as we are also featuring the use of toys, and having our titles appear from behind objects, or be edited onto the objects themselves.