Copyright

There have been some questions about using music in your film opening and how this works with copyright.

Here is the exam board's position:

All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.

This means you can use copyright-free music and sound effects (eg the ones you'll find on iMovie) and music where copyright has expired.

Copyright expires on a piece of music 70 years after the person who wrote it died. So you could use Motzart but not Elvis Presley.

Planning

Now that you have decided on your genre of film and know what your COMPLETE narrative is going to be like, you can start to plan your film opening.

REMEMBER: EVERYTHING YOU DO MUST GO ON YOUR BLOG. IF YOU HAVE A CONVERSATION AS A GROUP AND DISCUSS SOME IDEAS, MAKE A RECORD OF WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT AND ADD IT AS A BLOG ENTRY.

Things you need to do before Christmas:

• Analysis of BBFC ratingWhat rating is your film going to have? What kind of content is it going to involve?
• Storyboard(s)Don't just draw what is going to HAPPEN in your opening scene, decide on the camera angles, cuts and movement you are going to use, and WHY
• Costume designHow are your characters going to dress? How will this affect their representation and the way the audience engages with them?
• Audition videosWho is going to act in your piece? Film some auditions so that you can discuss who would best play the different characters.
• Location shotsWhere might you shoot your film opening. Take some photos, put them on your blog and explain why they would/wouldn't work
• Non-diegetic sound
  What are you going to use as your soundtrack? Are you going to include and sound effects? 
• Props
  Are you going to need any props? What will you need? Where are you going to get them? How will they help confirm your genre or show the representation of your characters