Wednesday, May 11

First, congratulations and thanks to the students for their performance on the EOCT. You all did your best. Thank you for your cooperation in successful testing. We'll have the results in a few weeks, and they'll be on your report cards.

Today, students are working on their "Movie Projects" (as I discussed yesterday). Students have to imagine that they are adapting one of the stories we read into a film, and write a proposal for the film that they could send to potential investors.

Of the seven required components, students will work on four today: the cover letter, the soundtrack, the poster, and the storyboard. Below are some notes on each part.

Cover Letter

HOW TO WRITE A COVER LETTER

A “cover letter” is a letter that you write and attach to other documents. It is called a “cover letter” because it will go on top of your other documents. A cover letter introduces you and explains your purpose in contacting the person. Cover letters are commonly included when applying for jobs. In this case, you are writing a cover letter to introduce yourself and explain your project (the film you are seeking to produce).

There are different formats for writing letters. I will teach you to write a letter in block style, because that is the simplest and easiest. When you write a letter in block format, you don’t indent anything. Everything goes against the left margin. If you know a different letter style, you may want to use your preferred style. Make sure it looks good, though! Also, take care to maintain a professional tone. Don’t be too casual or use slang.

There are several main parts to a letter:

the header: contains the addresses of the sender and the recipient, the date, and a greeting. For the purposes of this letter, you will be sending it to:
William McKinley
Director of New Film Acquisition
Buena Vista Entertainment
Burbank, CA 91501

the introduction: This is a brief first paragraph (usually 1-3 sentences would be fine) where you introduce who you are and the purpose of your letter

the body: Go into more detail. Describe specific reasons why your movie would be successful. Who’s your target audience? (Who would see the movie? Teens? Families?) If you have any qualifications or skills that would impress the reader, include those here. Usually a paragraph would do, but you could write more if you really need it.

the closer: A final brief paragraph that thanks the reader for their time and tells them what your next step will be (will you be calling them in the future? Should they contact you?)

valediction: This is where, at the very end, you write something like “Sincerely”, “Regards”, or “Cordially yours”, leave a couple spaces, and sign your letter.

Here is a sample cover letter. You can find more examples online.

Soundtrack

MUSIC NOTES

Music often adds to the excitement and drama of a movie. Think of the story you will be filming. What parts of the story are most emotional? What parts would benefit from a musical accompaniment? Think about what kind of music you will use to enhance your movie. In this paper, you will tell me what sort of music your movie will use.

Some people might prefer to use a score (instrumental music, usually by a symphony—think the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movies). Others might prefer to feature a soundtrack (songs by popular artists—think of how the Karate Kid used “Never Say Never” by Justin Bieber).

If you are using a score, tell me what scenes would be enhanced by the score. Tell me what sort of mood you are attempting to create. If you are using a soundtrack, tell me the specific artist and songs that you plan to use, what scenes they will be in, and why you chose those songs. (You might want to create a chart to do this.) In either case, you should have describe the music for a minimum of at least 3-4 different scenes in the movie, so I can get a good idea of the type of mood you’re going for.

Of course, if you’re a musician, you might write original music and record it for this project.

Poster

MOVIE POSTER

In order to attract audiences to see your movie, you must design a movie poster. Be creative. You can use any kinds of art supplies or technology you want to complete this assignment.

Even if you do not have all of the necessary materials today, I expect everyone to at least come up with a rough sketch of what their finished poster will look like.

Here are some past student ideas:
• Use a poster board and draw/paint the pictures
• Use pictures from the Internet and a graphic program to design a poster
• Use the website glogger.com to make an interactive poster and send me the address
• Take photos of friends in costumes and use for your poster

For examples of posters, look online at a site like this.

Storyboard

Once a concept or script is written for a film or animation, the next step is to make a storyboard. A storyboard visually tells the story of an animation panel by panel, kind of like a comic book.

Why make a storyboard?
Creating a storyboard will help you plan your movie out shot by shot. You can make changes to your storyboard before you start filming, instead of changing your mind later. You will also be able to talk about your film and show your storyboard to other people to get feedback on your ideas.
How do I make a storyboard?
Most commonly, storyboards are drawn in pen or pencil. If you don't like to draw you can also take photos, cut out pictures from magazines, or use a computer to make your storyboards. Keep in mind that your drawings don't have to be fancy! In fact, you want to spend just a few minutes drawing each frame. Use basic shapes, stick figures, and simple backgrounds. If you draw your storyboard frames on index cards, you can rearrange them to move parts of the the story around.
You do not need to be a great artist to do this, although artistic ability will help. You need to make a storyboard of your most exciting scene from the movie. It should be a minimum of six panels. Your panels should also show your costume choices and setting. Underneath your drawings, you should write a short description of what is happening in the scene and why you chose to draw it that way.

For more information on storyboarding, check out this site.