What should I be doing outside lesson times ?

This project will not be a success for you, unless you do some work outside of class time. Here are some suggestions:

1. Watch all the material here and note down points of interest, uploading your points as posts to your group blog
2. search the web for material about thrillers and other examples, e.g. on youtube; again create links or paste videos/pics/film posters etc into your blog
3. have a look on the web for visual ideas in any kinds of text- photos of props, costumes, facial expressions, locations,fonts, anything that you might use- paste these into your blog as a kind of planning/ideas scrapbook/sketchbook
4. Use a digital camera or your phone to take some recce shots of locations and upload these to your blog. if you are doing it via the college computers, make sure you have the right connector with you (for G8 eMacs), though bluetooth will work in G5 and G7!

ALL THE ABOVE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO PLANNING MARKS- so well worth doing!

5. start writing your essay- instructions are on moodle and will also appear below. It is very straightforward and follows the same formula as the Kids Tv project. Meeting the deadlines and improving your drafts contributes to your marks, so its worth doing!

6. Watch some thrillers to get ideas of what works and what doesn't- particularly lots of opening sequences for what is used in titles and for conventions of film openings. Listen to soundtracks and consider how to set up mood through sound.
7. Sketch storyboard frames ready for the animatics and so you have the maximum amount of planning of your shots ready for when you go out with the camera.

8. Work out when you can do the shoot as you will need to be well organised and ready
9. You will be shooting the sequence outside college in the group's own time anyway

10. Ask other people to look at your ideas, your blog and your writing- parents have often seen a surprising number of useful films! they might even be prepared to be in your film...