Media Gateway Curriculum Assignment Brief:

Baysgarth Media Productions are running a competition to discover the next generation of talented teenage media producers. 

Students will need to prove they are able to experiment with a range of media skills and techniques, and to apply these to planning a teaser trailer for an original film.

To show off their skills students will work in pairs or groups, using their knowledge of film trailers, camera, sound and editing techniques to plan and pitch a trailer idea to studio executives.

Tasks:

Students must produce a synopsis (short outline) of their film trailer idea. This should include: The title of the film, the genre of the film, setting, characters, plot.

They must also produce a storyboard or editing/shooting script detailing the action in each scene, camera techniques used, sound & dialogue, editing techniques such as transitions, cuts, fades etc.

Finally, students must pitch their trailer to "studio executives". In their pitch they will explain: 

• The content of their trailer based on your initial synopsis, including how it suits the genre of your film

• The techniques they have used and why they have used them - e.g. camera shots used and the desired effect

• Reasons why their trailer should be “green-lit”.

Having completed the first term's Gateway project, students go on to create:

• A trailer script - this is the script their actors will use so it needs to contain all of the dialogue as well as actors’ notes.

• Shooting schedule - this contains all of the information needed in order to shoot their trailer, such as equipment, props, costumes etc. that are required; who is involved in each scene; where & when each scene will be shot etc. 

The last stage of pre-production is to ensure they are targeting their intended audience effectively. Students need to:

• Explain who their primary target audience is: Age range, ethnicity, sex/gender, socio-economic group, their values, attitudes and lifestyle group and their location. 

• Explain how their trailer targets this audience: This will be reflected in the genre, their choices of media language (camerawork, sound, editing techniques etc.), the storyline/plot. 

• Explain who the secondary audience is: This will comprise of people who aren’t the intended audience but may still encounter or enjoy the trailer anyway. 

Production

Using their pre-production planning material, students then need to shoot footage of key scenes for their trailer. They will consider camerawork, mise en scene, sound techniques etc. This is their opportunity to experiment with a range of media language so they get to be creative! Green screens are available to enable students to create ambitious scenes and experiment with a range of filming/editing techniques.

Once filming has taken place, students will edit their footage with Adobe Premiere Pro & Photoshop. They will include transitions, cuts, fades etc. as well as experimenting with diegetic and non-diegetic sound, music, voiceover etc.

Evaluation

Having produced their trailer, students will discuss the whole process in their groups, then write an independent evaluation of their work. This will include:

• What do they think went well - which parts of the process were they stronger or better at? Why?

• Which parts of the process did they find more difficult? Why?

• What could they do better next time? How?

• What have they learnt from the process?

Preparation for KS4:

Students begin to deepen their knowledge and understanding of media purposes & audiences explored during the Gateway Curriculum. Students study and analyse a range of media products, determining why they have been produced (purpose) and who they are produced for (audience). Students cover a range of media audience theories as well as breaking down audiences into their key demographics and psychometrics. Using skills learnt from the Gateway Curriculum, students begin to explore the relationship between the purpose of media products and the primary/secondary audiences.

Students complete a case study investigating the purpose and audience of media products from each media sector. This is assessed according to the marking criteria used by Pearson. This helps students understand how their BTEC coursework will be assessed in Years 10 & 11. A sample of student work can be seen below the marking grid.